When Frito-Lay asked us to bring back their seasonal Cheetos Bag of Bones, we knew the easy route: do the stereotypical Halloween thing. Throw on some bats, a pumpkin, maybe a neon green slime drip, and call it a day.
That’s not how we work.
We asked a different question: If we were the mad scientist, the witch, the monster… what would we do with these snacks?
How do we get people to do more than eat a Cheeto?
How do we get them to play with it?
Create with it. Decorate with it.
Turn it into something you put on your snack table and actually feel proud of.
Once we started arranging the pieces, we realized something:
you could build a full skeleton if you placed them just right. And suddenly the whole campaign shifted — from “holiday flavor” to Halloween craft project.
And once you start thinking in terms of creation, you can’t ignore the parallels to classic stop-motion. Early Disney. Merry Melodies. Rubber-hose animation. The kind of Halloween shorts that were a little creepy, a little funny, and always charming in their imperfection.
Perfect inspiration — and old enough to parody freely.
From there, we built a world where Bag of Bones wasn’t just a snack, but a cast of characters.
A little haunted. A little chaotic. A lot of fun.
What We Created
We brought the entire Halloween universe to life — literally — using the product as the star:
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Stop Motion Animation made entirely from the actual snack pieces
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Vintage Cartoon-Inspired Timing And Character Acting
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Monster-Lab Visual Language that felt handmade, electric, and story-driven
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Packaging Extensions that tied the whole system together
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OOH + In-Store Displays that treated the snack like it escaped from a Halloween short film
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Social Content built for shareability: dancing skeletons, Franken-snack reveals, and build-your-own-creature prompts
Everything worked together as a system — crafted, slightly mischievous, and proudly odd in the best Halloween way.
The Strategy Beneath the Fun
Even though the tone was playful, the thinking was sharp:
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Make the Product the Hero
If the snack has personality, let it act. -
Create A Family Ritual
Not just “open bag → eat.”
More like “build something → share it → show it off.” -
Blend Nostalgia With Newness
The vintage cartoon aesthetic cuts through modern Halloween noise. -
Elevate Halloween Craft Culture
Parties, classrooms, office desks — the snacks double as decorations. -
Design A System That Scales
From packaging to national retail to social loops.
This wasn’t a seasonal SKU.
It was a seasonal experience.
The Impact
While the numbers live inside Frito-Lay, the results were clear:
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Stronger Retail Presence — the visuals earned more prominent placement
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Higher Social Engagement — stop motion always wins
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A Repeatable Creative Platform — families asked for it again next year
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A Distinctive Brand World — Halloween, but smarter, sharper, and taste-first
Bag of Bones didn’t just show up for Halloween. It earned its spot.