While the Cheetos Duster — essentially a handheld blender meant to be used to grind up Cheetos — has been around since 2022, it's still a little shocking to see the novelty kitchen gadget in the wild.
When a shopper came across the product at Walmart, they couldn't help but snap a pic and share the find on Reddit with the r/Anticonsumption community.
What happened?
The original poster said they stopped by Walmart to purchase a few items and found the Cheetos Duster near the snack aisle. Judging by their reaction, they had never heard of the niche kitchenware product before.
"Cheetos dust(er)???" they captioned the photos. One showed how to use the product, and another had a section describing what foods you can sprinkle the Cheetos shavings on, some of which honestly don't sound too appetizing.
"So... a food processor?" one person replied. "This is why marketing is evil. Also I don't see the value of using Cheetos when you really want the cheese seasoning which is easy enough to find."
"They're gonna go crazy when they learn you can do it with your hands. Or a rolling pin, if you don't want your hands getting dirty," someone else said.
Why are unnecessary products concerning?
Perhaps some foodies out there would argue that the Cheetos Duster is indeed useful. It was so popular when it launched in November 2022 that it sold out just days after it became available on Amazon, according to Fox 9 News.
However, considering it's essentially a small blender, you could easily use one that you probably already have to grind up Cheetos. The product is a novelty item at best, designed to capture people's attention with clever marketing. Since parts of the product appear to be made with plastic, the Cheetos Duster would cause significant environmental harm if many end up in landfills rather than being recycled when people no longer want them.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 86% of plastic generated in the United States in 2019 was landfilled, while 9% was burned to produce electricity, and just 5% was recycled. Plastics are also contaminating the oceans and other natural areas, putting wildlife and ecosystems at risk.
The more unnecessary plastic products that are made, the greater the threat to the environment, considering there's currently no society-wide alternative to plastic.
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Price 💰 Is Frito-Lay doing anything about this?
PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, has recently updated its climate and sustainability goals, which include plans to reduce and reuse packaging. For example, it aims to use 40% or more recycled content in its plastic packaging by 2035 and design 97% of its primary and secondary packaging to be recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, or reusable by 2030 in key packaging markets.
All of this involves the packaging rather than actual products, however. Still, it's certainly commendable and a step in the right direction, as PepsiCo was identified as one of the top five contributors to plastic waste worldwide, according to a study published in Science Advances.
What else is being done about wasteful products?
More consumers are calling out companies for selling products that either encourage conspicuous consumption or contain excessive plastic packaging, such as these coffee mugs and Nestlé Drumstick cones.
However, some retailers are listening and starting to offer more eco-friendly products. For example, Target launched a line of household essentials called Everspring, which are not only budget-friendly but are made with at least partially recycled content or packaged in glass instead of plastic.
You can also save thousands of dollars per year by switching from single-use coffee purchases to a French press and reusable travel mugs, as well as from disposable water bottles and grocery bags to reusable options.
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