Sometimes the internet delivers something so gloriously unexpected that you have to read the headline twice. This is one of those headlines.
Megan Thee Stallion and Nickelback teamed up to remake “How You Remind Me” — the 2001 rock anthem you absolutely know every word to — as a full-blown music video for Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Cheetos.
The music video, titled “Pickle’s Back,” was released on YouTube on March 26.
It features a high-tech heist, a high-speed truck chase and a large explosion of Cheetos dust. Both a full-length version and shorter cutdowns were produced.
And yes, this is a real product with a real backstory.
Frito-Lay first introduced Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle as a limited-edition flavor in February of last year. The original run sold out quickly, with packages even being resold on eBay for $60.
Now, Frito-Lay is reviving the flavor and launching a new Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Puffs variety alongside it.
So how do you announce the comeback of a snack that already has a cult following? Apparently, you get a Grammy-winning rapper and one of the most recognizable rock bands of the 2000s to rewrite a 25-year-old hit together.
An Intentionally Offbeat Pairing
The collaboration between Megan Thee Stallion and Nickelback was intentionally offbeat, which is exactly what made both acts quick to agree.
The re-imagined lyrics were developed with input from Megan Thee Stallion, though Nickelback ultimately took over writing duties after Frito-Lay staff first attempted their own parody version.
Chris Bellinger, chief creative officer at PepsiCo Foods U.S., opened up about the ad in an interview with Variety, published March 26. He described the Cheetos flavor as “polarizing” with a “spicy element” and “salty safety of the dill pickle.”
The goal of the ad, according to Bellinger, is not to get you to buy the Cheetos, “but to go online and search for the full song, because we want this to become an earworm.”
“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 Already Eating These
This wasn’t just a celebrity endorsement deal pulled from thin air. Megan Thee Stallion is a genuine fan of the product — she was publicly spotted combining Flamin’ Hot Cheetos with actual pickles before the partnership existed.
“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 also shared exactly 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.
Why Nickelback’s ‘How You Remind Me’?
Beyond the snack itself, the song choice was deliberate. Megan Thee Stallion called Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” a “very nostalgic” song.
“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.
That’s the whole strategy in a nutshell: take a song you already can’t get out of your head, fill it with lyrics about spicy pickle Cheetos and let the internet do the rest.
