If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Chester Cheetah!
(We’ll workshop that.)
In the annals of popular culture, there has never been a crossover quite like this: The meeting of American’s favorite ghost incarceration service and America’s favorite jungle cat who enjoys the taste of corn meal enriched with ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid. (Have you ever read the ingredients list on the back of a bag of Cheetos? Yikes!)
That’s right. Just in time for the new Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie, there are now Ghostbusters branded Cheetos. No longer is this the cheese that goes crunch; it is the cheese that goes “Boo!”
(We’ll workshop that too. There’s a reason I didn’t get a marketing degree.)
These are officially called “Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Smoky Ghost Pepper Flavored Puffs.” And because for some reason I eat any and every movie-inspired food I can get my hands on, I tried them.
READ MORE: I Ate Everything on Wonka’s IHOP Menu
As you can see, the Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Smoky Ghost Pepper Flavored Puffs bag (say that five times fast) is adorned with a large illustration of Chester Cheetah dressed like a Ghostbuster — because really, what makes you hungrier than the image of a cat wearing human clothes while drenched in slime?
As for the taste, well, you can watch my full reaction to smelling and tasting Ghostbusters Cheetos for the first time below.
Final Thoughts:
Did you spot the part of the video where I almost choked to death on Ghostbusters Cheetos and became a ghost (or at least a ghost pepper) myself? Make sure you don’t miss it!
If you like spicy foods and you like Cheetos (which probably describes a fair amount of people, since Cheetos offers a standard Flamin’ Hot varietal that is so popular it inspired its own Eva Longoria movie), this could be up your alley. It will probably help if you like barbecue chips, since the “smoky” aspect of Ghostbusters Cheetos definitely evokes a barbecue-flavored Lay’s.
One thing that may not be clear from the video, because it really only happened after I stopped recording: These things made me sweat more than the Mayor of New York when Peter Venkman walks into his office. After a couple puffs, the spice accumulates rapidly in the mouth. So that is something to keep in mind.
As for the tie-in aspect of these Cheetos, using ghost peppers (or at least ghost pepper “flavor”) in a Ghostbusters product is a nice touch. However, it must be noted that spicy food is not necessarily the best fit for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire specifically, since this is a movie about a ghost that freezes people to death, while ghost peppers kind of do the opposite to your mouth. On the other hand, if Frito-Lay had introduced a mentholated Cheetos product to simulate the chilly atmosphere of Frozen Empire, I would have had to file a lawsuit with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opens in theaters on March 22. You can find Ghostbusters Flamin’ Hot Smoky Ghost Pepper (Flavored) Cheetos wherever horrifyingly spicy snack foods are sold. I can’t imagine these having the cultural impact of an Ecto Cooler, but I imagine they will have their fans. As for me, I’m about to strap on my proton pack and drive my Ecto-1 over to the grocery store. I hear there are now Ghostbusters Rice Krispies Treats too.
