Dozens of underprivileged families and families of children with disabilities in the Russian region of Tula recently received bags of Cheetos snacks as food assistance and they were just as happy as you’d imagine…

If this story was posted on April 1st, you’d probably think it a joke. Heck, you’re probably thinking that right now, and you’re right to do so, but, sadly, it’s true. In early May, Russian news media reported that the Rus food fund had recently carried out an operation, distributing 1,100 bags of Cheetos snacks to dozens of impoverished and underprivileged families in ten municipalities of Russia’s Tula region. About 700 messages of gratitude were posted on social media posts about the charity event, but the photos of the recipients with their Cheetos bags told a very different story…

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Harambe the gorilla was slain at the Cincinnati Zoo last year, during a controversial incident, but his spirit lives on in a seemingly endless number of Internet memes and jokes. A recent eBay auction of a single Flamin’ Hot Cheeto shaped like the famous silverback gorilla proves that Harambe is still as popular as ever.

On January 28, eBay user valuestampsinc listed a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto that resembled an orange, puffy version of Harambe, setting the minimum bid at a decent $11.99. The listing included a photo of the unique Cheeto alongside a photo of the real Harambe climbing a tree, and the resemblance was clearly close enough to justify the asking price. However, after the listing went viral on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, the bidding got out of control, and by February 7, at 3:45 am, when the bidding was scheduled to end, the Harambe-shaped Cheeto had been acquired for a whopping $99,900. eBay has confirmed that the item was valid and available for purchase, but has not commented on whether payment has been made.

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Cheetos commissioned artist Jason Baalman to create portraits of presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney out of their puffy orange snacks. Unveiled on October 3, the edible artworks measured 3 feet by 4 feet and numbered over 2,000 individual Cheetos.

Jason Baalman, who’s known for his portraits of celebrities created in alternative materials (ketchup, barbecue sauce, etc.), is no stranger to Cheetos. In the past he has used the popular snack to make detailed portraits of pop icons like Conan O’Brien, CeeLo Green and Rachel Ray. This time, the PepsiCo-owned company asked him to do two portraits of the presidential candidates, based on two recent Facebook profile photos. Not one to say no to a challenge, Baalman started work on the the two “big cheeses” in his Colorado Springs, Colo., studio. Painstakingly sorting over 2,000 Cheetos for each portrait, and gluing them in just the right position on a black canvas, the young artist spent around 100 hours on the project. Just like his previous cheesy portraits, the ones of Obama and Romney look good enough to eat.

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Apparently, this video has been on the internet since late last year, but for some reason I’ve never heard about it. Better late than never, I guess.

Colorado Springs-based artist Jaon Baalman used over 50 bags of Cheetos to create an ultra-realistic portrait of popular TV-show host Conan O’Brien. Young Jason used Regular, Flamin’ Hot and Natural Cheetos to complete his work, and in some places used two, three layers, to give it the needed depth.

The edible portrait, made out of over 2000 individual Cheetos was supposed to be presented to Conan O’Brien himself, in December of last year, but the artist and his work fell victim to the whole Late Night Show circus, at NBC.

Well, I know it’s not the same, but Jason Baalman gets two thumbs up from me. Make sure you watch the making-of video, at the bottom.

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