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Gosh! Napoleon Dynamite himself schills for Burger King’s Cheesy Tots

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By Lisa Lacy, n/a

November 30, 2016 | 3 min read

Instead of moving hens for $1 an hour or selling plasticware and bust-enhancing supplements door to door, the so-called “new kind of hero” who played the starring role in the quirky indie comedy Napoleon Dynamite has a new role: Fast food ambassador.

Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro Sanchez have reunited to promote Burger King's Cheesy Tots.

Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro Sanchez have reunited to promote Burger King's Cheesy Tots.

That’s right: Twelve years after the film’s debut, the eponymous character and his sidekick Pedro Sanchez are eating tater tots together again – this time, in a 30-second spot promoting the QSR’s Cheesy Tots.

Burger King announced #CheesyTotsAreBack for a limited time on November 29. The related spot, touting this moment as the “comeback of the decade,” generated about 25,000 views on YouTube in its first 24 hours with an additional 262,000 views on Facebook.

The casting of Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez makes perfect sense: Tater tots had multiple cameos in the 2004 movie, from the cafeteria at Preston High to a pocket in Dynamite’s cargo pants.

According to a press release, Cheesy Tots are “a bite-sized combination of warm potatoes and melty cheese inside with a crispy outside,” as well as “another example of how Burger King “[listens] to [its] fans’ demands across social media to help inform menu decisions.”

Case in point: The triumphant return of Cheesy Tots follows the addition of Burger King’s Chicken Fries as a permanent menu item in 2015 after limited-time availability the year prior, which Burger King said was also due to popular demand.

“Fans have been craving the return of Cheesy Tots for some time now,” said Alex Macedo, Burger King’s president of North America, in a statement. “So we wanted to give loyalists a holiday surprise after we heard so many of their requests. Now they’ll be able to warm up to these cozy cheese and potato bites this holiday season.”

And Dynamite won’t have to settle for a dang quesadilla.

Entertainment Marketing: Movies, TV, Music and Gaming Burger King Technology

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