Nickelback’s All-Time Biggest Hit Gets a Megan Thee Stallion (and Hot Cheetos) Makeover
What do a Grammy-winning rapper, a Canadian rock band and a bag of spicy pickle-flavored snacks have in common? More than you might think.
Frito-Lay is bringing back its Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle flavored snacks and launching a brand-new Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Puffs variety.
To mark the occasion, the company enlisted an unlikely duo — Megan Thee Stallion and Nickelback — for a music video that reimagines one of the most recognizable rock songs of the 2000s.
The music video, called “Pickle’s Back,” is a remake of Nickelback’s 2001 hit “How You Remind Me,” featuring new lyrics written by the band with input from Megan Thee Stallion.
It was released on YouTube on March 26.
One of Cheetos’ Most Polarizing Flavors Is Back
The original spicy dill-pickle Cheetos were first introduced as a limited-edition flavor in February of last year. The run sold out quickly, with packages even being resold on eBay for $60.
Chris Bellinger, chief creative officer at PepsiCo Foods U.S., described the Cheetos flavor as “polarizing” with a “spicy element” and “salty safety of the dill pickle,” in an interview with Variety, published March 26.
The earlier demand is making the flavor’s return something of an event — and Frito-Lay, a unit of PepsiCo, wanted a campaign to match.
Bellinger told Variety that the pairing of Megan Thee Stallion and Nickelback was intentionally offbeat, which made both the rapper and the rock band quick to agree to the project.
He hopes the video drives a lot of fan engagement and gets the internet talking (and sharing).
“I want to get the text message from someone or someone to text someone else, and be like, ‘You’ve got to check this out. You’re not going to believe what Cheetos just did. You’re not going to believe Nickelback, and Megan Thee Stallion are singing about Cheetos Flaming Hot Dill Pickle. Watch this.’ Yeah. That’s worth gold to us,” he said.
Megan Thee Stallion ‘Was Gonna Eat This Anyway’
Megan Thee Stallion, who was publicly spotted combining Flamin’ Hot Cheetos with actual pickles before the partnership ever came together, is a genuine fan of the product (and flavor).
“Everybody knows that I love pickles. Everybody knows that I love Flamin’ Hot Cheetos,” Megan Thee Stallion said in an interview with Delish.
“And I feel like it was very obvious to come get me to be the face of this launch, because, yeah, I was gonna eat this anyway,” she added.
She went on to explain how she turns Hot Cheetos and pickles into a full-on meal.
“You use the pickle as the bread, and then you put pepper jack cheese on the inside, and then you put the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on the inside of that, and eat it like a little sandwich. And if you really want to get crazy, put a little tahini on it,” she added.
The ‘Nostalgic’ Song That Brought Them Together
Megan Thee Stallion added that Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” is a “very nostalgic” song — and that familiarity is precisely what makes the campaign work.
“I feel like growing up listening to a song like “How You Remind Me,” it’s just in your brain,” she said in an interview with Billboard.
“You hear it on the radio all the time, you hear it in TV shows, you just know the song. You know the words, without ever having really learned the words. I feel like it’s just very nostalgic,” she added.
Whether the unlikely combination of Megan Thee Stallion, Nickelback and spicy pickle Cheetos becomes the earworm Frito-Lay is hoping for, the campaign has already delivered something memorable.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
