Dye your hair... like Velveeta!
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Actress Julia Fox, best known for the 2019 film "Uncut Gems," partnered with Kraft Heinz to introduce "Velveeta Gold" hair color. Photo: Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Want your hair to look cheesy? Velveeta's new hair dye mimics the hue of the highly meltable and shelf-stable cheese product.
Why it matters: The latest trend in food marketing is to come out with limited-time products that grab our attention — like an ankle holster for your Pringles.
Driving the news: Velveeta, a brand founded in 1918, has been introducing weird cheese-adjacent products in an effort to seem less stodgy.
- A 14-karat-gold Velveeta lip cuff introduced earlier this year is meant to mimic the "drip" of melted cheese.
- Before that came a cheese-scented nail polish called "Pinkies Out."
- And don't forget the Velveeta Veltini, a cocktail with "Velveeta-infused vodka" and cheese dripped on the rim, which was briefly offered by the BLT Restaurant Group.
Zoom out: It's all part of a 3-year-old branding campaign called "La Dolce Velveeta" that's meant to bring younger consumers into the Velveeta fold.
- Millennials — who are fans of what the writer Tom Wolfe once called "arty cheeses" — have eschewed bland American-style cheeses in favor of the frou-frou and artisanal.
- "We knew we needed to dust the brand off and future-proof it for the next 100 years," Stephanie Vance, brand manager for Velveeta at Kraft Heinz, tells Axios.
- The non-edible Velveeta Gold semi-permanent hair dye is $7.50 on Amazon while supplies last.
What they're saying: "YES, I bought the CHEESE POLISH," wrote an Instagrammer who goes by GingerlyPolished.
- "As a Velveeta expert, I will say Velveeta itself is paler and less orange than this, but I digress."
- "These are marked as cheese-scented, and I know that's the part you're most interested in," she wrote. "There's some definite cheesiness to it. But it's also weirdly sweet and candy-like."
The bottom line: In an era when pink, green and blue hair highlights are now office-proper, try not to stare if the person in the next cubicle goes Velveeta Gold.
