Baseball fans can be superstitious, and Seattle Mariners supporters are no exception. Some eat dirt, others down drinks, and at least one hired a witch in the hopes of helping the team win.<\/p>\n
Rick Rizzs, a longtime broadcaster for the team, eats Cheetos.<\/p>\n
During this year\u2019s American League Division Series (ALDS), Rizzs had his snacking superstition brand-approved. After the Cheetos team caught wind of his snack of choice, they inked a short-term partnership with the Mariners for the series\u2014and the Mariners made it through, leaving the Detroit Tigers in the (Cheeto) dust to advance to the American League Championship Series (ALCS).<\/p>\n
If the Mariners are able to win the series against the Toronto Blue Jays (the teams head into Game 3 Wednesday night), they\u2019d be off to their first-ever World Series appearance.<\/p>\n
While sports deals are common for some other brands in the PepsiCo portfolio, Cheetos had never previously ventured into official team or league deals, Chris Bellinger, chief creative officer of PepsiCo Foods US, said. But between the specific superstition and general excitement around baseball, Bellinger said it was an opportunity he simply couldn\u2019t pass up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have something like a superstition come up, I mean, between us and Etsy witches, of course we want to be a part of that,\u201d Bellinger told Marketing Brew. \u201cOctober baseball is special, and so being able to play along with that is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out of the park<\/h2>\n
As the Seattle Times tells it, Rizzs ate a bag of Cheetos during a 2018 game when the Mariners performed well. The next night, when the team was struggling, the team\u2019s GM gave Rizzs another bag, and the Mariners ended up winning. The tradition, which had faded away, was reborn this season during the team\u2019s 10-game winning streak.<\/p>\n
Rizzs posted about it on his social media and tagged Cheetos, which caught the attention of the brand\u2019s community managers, Bellinger said. The story eventually made its way to Belliger\u2019s desk, and as a baseball player and fan of the game himself, he bought in. Within days, Cheetos and the Mariners had struck up a short-term partnership for the duration of the ALDS, he said.<\/p>\n
One of the first things the brand team did was to send their mascot, Chester Cheetah, to the broadcasting booth to deliver Rizzs \u201can emergency case of Cheetos to break in case [the Mariners] were ever losing,\u201d Bellinger said. Chester also handed out samples ahead of Game 1 of the series at Victory Hall at the Boxyard, a venue across the street from the Mariners\u2019 home stadium that\u2019s popular among sports fans.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf you\u2019re the lucky charm, you\u2019ve got to show up,\u201d Bellinger said.<\/p>\n
Beyond sending Chester to Seattle, Cheetos has run social, digital out-of-home, and radio content with the Mariners throughout the postseason, he said. The social team started by commenting on posts about Cheetos and the Mariners, and the content eventually evolved to become more integrated, Bellinger said, like posts incorporating the Mariners\u2019 trident.<\/p>\n
The social approach has been \u201csuper successful\u201d so far, with over 100,000 views and a 5% engagement rate between two posts with Rizzs\u2014almost 2x the average engagement rate for the brand on Instagram, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are having fun with it,\u201d Bellinger said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the key\u2026You find a fanbase, you tap into what they know, and you\u2019re authentic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cool cat<\/h2>\n
The Cheetos brand team doesn\u2019t currently have anything planned for the ALCS or beyond, but heading into tonight\u2019s game, the Mariners are ahead 2-0, and \u201cyou never know what\u2019s going to be happening later,\u201d Bellinger said. Chester\u2019s travel plans aren\u2019t firmed up.<\/p>\n
\u201cChester\u2019s mischievous,\u201d Bellinger said. \u201cYou never know what Chester\u2019s gonna be up to\u2026I\u2019d say there\u2019s definitely some ideation flowing around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s usually a Texas Rangers fan, Bellinger said the Mariners are his \u201cnew adopted team,\u201d and he\u2019s hoping for a World Series run. Between MLB teams (including the Mariners) having fun on social and the Savannah Bananas shaking up the baseball world, Bellinger said the sport \u201cfeels perfect\u201d for the Cheetos brand.<\/p>\n
\u201cBaseball is seeing a huge resurgence right now,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s primed for embracing the unserious, making the serious unserious, making the game more fun. I say this as somebody who played baseball my whole life. It is very tradition-oriented, but at the same time, it\u2019s just fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n