Cheez-It aged its cheese to hip-hop to prove it uses real cheese

In 2022, Cheez-It wanted its '100% real cheese' claim noticed in a snack category where rivals behaved like entertainment brands. A 2019 study from Bern University of the Arts found that aging cheese to hip-hop changed its smell and taste, so Cheez-It and Pandora recreated the experiment at the Brewster Cheese facility in Idaho.

Cheese aged for six and a half months with a curated hip-hop playlist vibrating through transducers, while a control batch aged in silence. A blind tasting at Kellogg's Institute for Food and Nutrition Research found consistent differences in aroma, flavor and finish, and the resulting limited-edition Cheez-It x Pandora 'Aged by Audio' crackers launched with a mixtape, Sway Calloway content and a 90-day Pandora Premium trial.

The stunt was run as earned media and scarcity: the campaign generated 668 earned placements, over 486 million impressions and 98% positive sentiment, and the limited run sold out in 12 days.

Prove real cheese with an absurd experiment

An absurd proof is more credible than a claim

The product itself carried the story, not an ad

Scarcity and a real experiment gave press a hook

Pandora supplied distribution and cultural credibility

To make an unverifiable claim believable, build a real, weird experiment around it: let the product prove the claim, hand the story to partners and press, and let scarcity do the selling.

Aged by Audio won the Effie US 2023 Gold in Digital and, for Kellanova, Leo Burnett Chicago and Starcom, the 2024 Global Grand Effie in Digital — evidence that a one-off novelty can pay off in effectiveness, not just buzz.