Cheez-It – the cheesy Kellogg-brand snack cracker – is celebrating the 30th anniversary of reality TV by releasing a “limited-cheddition box” with an image of legendary drag queen and reality show host RuPaul.
The boxes will actually come in two varieties: one featuring RuPaul, the host of the wildly popular RuPaul’s Drag Race series, and another featuring Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the “hard-partying, booze-swilling” personality from MTV’s Jersey Shore series.
“[RuPaul and Polizzi] made their unmissable mark in the reality TV space with their often absurd, sometimes salty, always satisfying personas on camera,” the company said in a press release. “From dancing like no one is watching at the club to critiquing unfiltered lip-syncing battles, Snooki and RuPaul have paved the way for 100% realness on-screen.”
The brand sold a limited quantity of the new boxes on Thursday through its website CheezItHQ.com. The site will release a limited amount for pre-sale through next week while supplies last.
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In the meantime, RuPaul fans celebrated and poked fun at the marketing campaign.
What timeline did I jump to with Rupaul Cheez Its https://t.co/FFc8tXfpSH pic.twitter.com/yl0nduUQlc
— Travis (@twitmercan) September 16, 2022
Chromatica Oreos walked so RuPaul Cheez Its could run pic.twitter.com/nX2OicZm8V
— Joey Nolfi (@joeynolfi) September 15, 2022
What's wrong, babe? You've barely touched your Limited "Cheddition" RuPaul Cheez-its pic.twitter.com/ahz3XFNPqG
— Kiki Gold (@dandruffdiva) September 15, 2022
Cheez a super queen pic.twitter.com/QA2p4InzJD
— Alaska Thunderfuck (@Alaska5000) September 16, 2022
how’s my mental state? well i spent $12 on rupaul cheez itz
— chris (@tophlo) September 15, 2022
the product description of the rupaul cheez its feels homophobic pic.twitter.com/QxqmtgG6FG
— megan (@megansmith_11) September 15, 2022
The product description for the RuPaul Cheez-Its is also quite cheesy:
If U wanna be invited to the party, U must have something to bring. Before RuPaul, we thought a box of Cheez-It® was enough. But now we know we gotta bring the realness, no matter how orange we look. She done already done had herses, but Ru wanted more. He knew drag queens belonged on every screen, so he went to werk. And walk by walk, Mama Ru and her Queens have taught us the art of the fiercest lewks, the saltiest shade, and being absurdly satisfied with exactly who we are. May the 100% Real Original – who built the stage for hundreds of other Originals – never ever sashay away.
The boxes cost $7.99 plus shipping.
Also, while Cheez-It’s 3oth anniversary celebration of reality TV coincides with the 1992 premier of MTV’s The Real World, the first U.S. reality TV series was actually An American Family, which premiered in 1973.
The documentary series, broadcast by PBS, followed the Louds, an upper-middle-class family living in Santa Barbara, California. It featured the family’s son Lance Loud as the first recurring out gay character on an American TV show.
