• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Giant Cheeto Unveiled in Iowa

Posted on: Friday, 14 March 2003, 06:00 CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A motorcade with two sheriff's cars and a fire truck were part of the ceremony that helped unveil a giant Cheeto as a tourist attraction in northwest Iowa.

The event culminated with the Cheeto's first live television appearance.

Bryce Wilson, 24, a disc jockey at KLGA-FM in Algona, arranged for the huge piece of snack food to be mailed from Hawaii and then set up a major event to unveil the Cheeto at a local restaurant.

The whole thing began as a way to have fun and make people laugh, Wilson said, adding that it really took off when ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel requested the unveiling be part of his live late-night talk show.

"It's just crazy, but I'm lovin' every minute of it," Wilson said. "We've had a lot of fun with this thing."

With a crowd of 200 chanting, "Cheeto, Cheeto," the cheesy lump made its debut.

"That is an amazingly large Cheeto," Kimmel said as his studio audience in Hollywood cheered.

The Cheeto appeared slightly smaller than a tennis ball and dwarfed a regular size piece of the snack food. It weighs only six-tenths of an ounce but has quite a girth, Wilson has said.

The Cheeto will be on permanent display in a glass case at Sister Sarah's Restaurant in Algona.

Frito-Lay, the Texas-based maker of Cheetos, donated items to be auctioned at the event. About $1,600 was raised for the Kossuth County food bank.

"That Cheeto keeps on giving and giving," Kimmel said when Wilson informed him of the charity amount.

Wilson said he first learned about the big Cheeto on a Web site while trying to find silly stories for his afternoon show.

Navy Petty Officer Mike Evans, stationed in Hawaii, bought a bag of Cheetos for his 3-year-old son and discovered the massive hunk of the cheesy food inside.

Evans tried to auction the Cheeto on e-Bay, but Wilson convinced him to give it to Algona, a town of 5,700 residents, as a tourist draw.

---

On the Net:

More science, space, and technology from RedNova

Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

More News in this Category