Starcom Taiwan fast-tracked Doritos into one of Taiwan’s most popular TV dramas, sparking a snack trend — the ‘Cilantro Swap’ — that dominated social feeds across the country.
Doritos
(PepsiCo Foods Taiwan)
Starcom Taiwan
When a once in a hundred year typhoon hit Taiwan’s cilantro crops, Starcom Taiwan moved to integrate Doritos Cilantro into one of the island’s popular TV dramas.
According to the agency, the campaign was part of a moment that “called for a subtle, culturally relevant intervention.” Cilantro had already been dividing Taiwan long before the typhoon hit — Doritos’ limited-edition cilantro flavor campaign went on to spark online debate and a trend.
To learn more about the campaign, we recently spoke with some of the team from Starcom Taiwan.
Few ingredients divide Taiwan quite like cilantro.
It’s a love‑it‑or‑hate‑it herb that regularly fuels social debate, and Doritos stepped straight into that divide by launching a limited‑edition cilantro flavour. The release quickly sparked conversation online: cilantro fans celebrated the move; critics weren’t so sure.
After the initial buzz, talkability gradually slowed. Doritos needed to find a fresh way to keep its cilantro flavour in the limelight.
When a once‑in‑a‑hundred‑year typhoon hit the island, supply chains were disrupted overnight. Crops were damaged and fresh vegetables became scarce as prices soared: the Ministry of Agriculture reported a 30–40% drop in overall vegetable supply.
The moment called for a subtle, culturally relevant intervention – but without appearing opportunistic.
Suddenly, cilantro became noticeably absent from popular Taiwanese dishes – meals felt incomplete in a way people could immediately relate to. Starcom Taiwan identified the shift in sentiment early: faced with a national cilantro shortage, Doritos Cilantro had the potential to become the unofficial substitute.
The moment called for a subtle, culturally relevant intervention – but without appearing opportunistic.
Starcom Taiwan recognised a rare convergence: a flavour already being talked about, a real-world absence people were feeling, and a cultural setting where evening television remained a shared national experience as the typhoon raged outside.
The agency found a way for Doritos to quietly step into the gap cilantro had left behind, allowing people to discover a new role for it on their own. It began negotiating a fast‑tracked storyline integration into Good Luck, one of Taiwan’s long-running, prime-time TV dramas loved for its over-the-top plotlines.
The agency leveraged the show’s agile production process, working closely with its writers to add real-time events to the script just days before shooting and broadcasting.
The release quickly sparked conversation online: cilantro fans celebrated the move; critics weren’t so sure.
Together, they co-created an eight-minute scene featuring a character who casually crushes Doritos into a bowl of vermicelli soup. Doritos amplified the moment through the show’s social channels – then stepped back to watch the response.
Within minutes, viewers clipped the scene, shared it, debated it, and began trying Doritos Cilantro sprinkled on their own meals. Homemade recreations, memes, and commentary flooded social feeds. The moment earned its own shorthand: “the cilantro swap.”
The impact was measurable:
Doritos Cilantro shot to the number one trending topic on Threads. With a 4x increase in sales following the activation, it converted attention into demand.
It even sparked a new cooking trend, with people still adding Doritos Cilantro to their dishes today.
