Dive Brief:

• Cheetos is extending its “Other Hand” marketing campaign with a custom font timed to National Handwriting Day (Jan. 23), per details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• “Other Hand” centers on people who only use their dominant hand to eat Cheetos, leading to mishaps. In turn, The Other Hand Font is deliberately wonky looking, allegedly created by designers relying on their off hand while indulging in a bag of the puffed cheese snacks.   
• The Other Hand Font is available through Cheetos.com and a Google Chrome browser plug-in that switches out the typeface of other websites. The Frito-Lay snack brand is encouraging consumers to post their own Other Hand Font creations on social media for the chance to win a limited-edition bag inspired by the chicken scratch design.    

Dive Insight:

Cheetos is embracing imperfection and a doodle-like aesthetic with the Other Hand Font, which builds off of a campaign launched last spring illustrating the mishaps that occur as people try to go about their day using their non-dominant hand. Relying on the non-dominant hand is a way to avoid spreading “Cheetle,” a term the brand uses to refer to the bright orange cheese dust that builds up on one’s finger tips when snacking on the puffs. 

Silverstein Goodby & Partners, a design arm that agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners set up in June, is behind the stunt toying with custom brand typography. A promotional video shows agency employees and founder Rich Silverstein struggling to get the Cheetos project right as they’re limited to using a single hand. The reveal of a childlike final product is juxtaposed with triumphant voiceover stating that The Other Hand Font is revolutionary and represents “perfection in design.” Chris Bellinger, creative chief at PepsiCo Foods U.S., had different words, describing the font as “hilariously bad” in a press statement.  

Cheetos is making The Other Hand Font available to consumers via a web download and Chrome browser extension while encouraging people to experiment with the quirky typeface for work, study and other projects. Those who post creations on social media that impress the Frito-Lay brand will receive a special Cheetos bag displaying the font and a lo-fi rendition of mascot Chester Cheetah riding a skateboard.  

Silverstein Goodby & Partners is among a raft of new agency design practices trying to capitalize on brand marketers’ steady appetites for refreshes and visual identity overhauls (along with stunt projects poking fun at the trend like The Other Hand Font). Goodby Silverstein & Partners is also behind the larger “Other Hand” ad campaign, which shows people flubbing tasks like sketching and parking as they refuse to stop snacking on Cheetos