Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Putting the Che back in Cheetos

Recently Cheetos, a division of the Frito Lay Corporation, has started an advertising campaign, that is more than obviously directed towards teens. And not just any teens, but rebellious, mischievous, and gullible teens. This new advertising campaign is called The Orange Underground. Sound intriguing? Exactly.
"The Orange Underground"'s mission is to inspire teens and young people to commit "Random Acts of Cheetos", or as they more commonly refer to it in their series of youtube videos a "RAoC". These RAoCs are pranks aimed towards "The Man", never "The Innocent". In one particular video created by "The Orange Underground", guidelines for becoming part of this "Movement" are set forth. These guidelines include that when committing a RAoC, you must take a video of your act, and post it on The Orange Underground's youtube site, as long as this video obeys the rules of the Orange Underground, and YouTube. The Orange Underground has sample pranks available on it's website, including "Cheetos Itching Powder" and "Cheetos Bus Stop Trap". All of the pranks it suggests involve two things: buying a bunch of cheetos, and using these cheetos to make some sort of political defiance statement.
Was it just me, or was that entire paragraph the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard of? But alas, that is all true. And the scariest part, is that hundreds of teenagers and young people have joined this "movement", in only its third day of existing. Recently, I discovered a publishing and media company called CrimethInc. All of the books it publishes, the movies it makes, and the stickers it produces are also aimed towards young people, and the subject content is primarily about the corruption in the world, and how young people especially can make a difference. These suggestions to improve the world include becoming vegan, graffiting, becoming an artist, starting movements of one's own, and cutting down on purchases in general. I bring CrimethInc up, because like "The Orange Underground", their mission is ultimately to "Stick it to The Man".
However, unlike the independent, and virtually unknown CrimethInc, Cheetos is owned by Frito Lay corporation, which is owned by Pepsi Co. Pepsi Co. has a horrifying track record of actually being "The Man", including doing business with, and ultimately contributing money to the Burmese military junta, a dictatorship responsible for horrendous acts of, no, not Cheetos, but human trafficking, child labour, and overall violations of human rights. Alongside supporting cruel dictatorships, Pepsi sold in India has been proven to contain pesticides that induce cancer and birth defects.
So, buy bags of Cheetos. Fill your boss's car with orange puffs of artificial delicious-ness, and post a video of it on YouTube. The only thing you're sticking to the man is your dignity.

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