Woman gets shorted on Cheez-Its on Delta flight. Then the snack company sends her a package with something unbelievable: ‘They could’ve kept that’
Nothing can ruin a snack like opening it only to find three pieces inside. This is exactly what happened to a Brooklyn-based woman on a Delta flight. How Cheez-Its tried to fix the problem only added insult to injury.
The original video showcases Delta passenger Kelli (@kelligt) unveiling a small, thin, plastic bag of Cheez-Its to 1.7 million viewers. Then, she silently tears a corner of it and rips the bag open. When she peels back the edges, she reveals three meager square crackers. But the content creator had a sense of humor, jokingly tagging both companies in the caption, “So hungry, happy @delta gave me these delicious @Cheez-It to enjoy.”
However, Cheez-Its didn’t find Kelli’s clip funny. “This definitely isn’t the in-flight vibe we were going for. Check your DMs!” they wrote in her comments section.
What Did Cheez-Its Do?
Kelli posted a follow-up clip two weeks after her original clip went viral of the brand’s attempt to remedy the issue. As she sits at a table inside her apartment, she reveals a package Cheez-Its sent to her. Without uttering a word the entire time, she rips the tape and peels it off the box. Then, the content creator pulls back the flaps and paper to individually unpack the contents inside to over 33,000 viewers.
Instead of box full of the famous snacks, she is gifted merchandise. First up is a Cheez baseball cap. Next, Kelli shows off a sweater which she folds and places in front of the camera. Last but not least is a scarf in its plastic packaging.
In the same Kelli fashion, she references the infamous three by quipping in the caption, “guess you really only wanted me to have 3?”
A Case Of PR Management Crisis?
The digital age has paved a way for people to promote a favorite brand to their audience. While the phenomenon dubbed the ‘influencer market’ grows, companies have jumped on this bandwagon to capitalize. In the same vein, the opposite applies as well, giving unsatisfied customers a platform to publicly vent their frustrations with a brand to their followers, which can pick up traction and skyrocket in virality.
So, what do they do in this situation? Go into PR management crisis mode. We’ve seen it before after a video blows up and they enter the influencer’s comments. Once they have collected all of the details, they will reach out to them and attempt to rectify the issue, according to Action Group. Some will issue refunds, give out a freebie or in Kelli’s case, merch. All of this is the brand’s method to protect their image from potential or further damage.
Viewers Were Not Impressed
“Stop. I was thinking they were going to be generous and send boxes of Cheez-its,” one viewer commented.
“I’d honestly take the 3 cheezits over this stuff. They could’ve kept that,” another remarked.
“I want to eat cheez its not be a cheez it,” a third stated.
“Girl. I swear companies do anything other than face the problem they’ve created,” a fourth said.
But a fifth noted, “It’s really not obvious to yall this box was already opened prior?! Please rewatch her [opening] the tape lmfao.”
Kelli did respond to this observation. “lol sorry. I had to do 3 takes. I’m not a TikToker but there were legit no cheez itz regardless. Looks like that is a separate shipment tho” she replied.
@kelligt Replying to @Cheez-It ♬ original sound – kelligt
The Mary Sue reached out to Kelli via TikTok comment and direct message as well as Cheez-Its parent company, Kellanova via press email.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
