2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the indie film Napoleon Dynamite - the story of an awkward small town that loved Tater Tots and had sweet dance moves. The beloved character sparked decades of fandom as the movie became a cult classic.  

Twenty years after its release, fans still quote a key moment when Napoleon’s delicious Tater Tots, stuffed in his pockets for snacking in class, were cruelly crushed by his bully Randy.  

So, to mark the anniversary, Ore-Ida, the inventor of Tater Tots, stepped in with the solution devoted fans needed by introducing Tot-Protecting Pants. To endorse the pants, we enlisted the actor who played Napoleon to reprise his role for the first time in twenty years.  

Inspired by the “indestructible” NuPont Fibre Tupperware shucked by his door-to-door selling uncle in the film, and made to withstand kicks from the meanest of bullies, the Tot-Protecting pants sold out in minutes, as the campaign ignited our social channels with over 40M views, an unprecedented amount of likes, comments, and shares, and was covered by 483 news outlets, garnering over 412M earned media impressions - all of it at 100% positive sentiment. 

As a result of the campaign, fans flocked to our partner Disney hulu™ to revisit the movie, ultimately sending it to the top 50 films on the popular streaming service. Most importantly, Ore-Ida saw an unprecedented 7.5% jump in sales volume as fans stocked up on delicious Tater Tots in solidarity with their beloved Napoleon Dynamite.