Frito-Lay sets Guinness World Record on Facebook

PepsiCo's Frito-Lay has set a new world record on Facebook, grabbing the title for "Most Fans on Facebook in 24 Hours." The page garnered 1,571,161 new Likes on April 11, 2011. As a thank you to its fans, Frito-Lay gave away 24,000 bags of chips valued at $4 each.

The new record was part of a campaign that provided a behind-the-scenes look at how Frito-Lay's newest product flavors made with all natural ingredients are created in the Frito-Lay Flavor Kitchen, located at its headquarters in Plano, Texas. The primary goal was to get consumers involved in the process, using Facebook as a central hub of activity. The campaign included:

• a replica Flavor Kitchen created in Times Square with live cooking demonstrations streamed to the Frito-Lay Facebook page
• a sweepstakes on the Frito-Lay Facebook page that gave consumers the chance to win some of the same Electrolux appliances that were used by the Frito-Lay chefs in Times Square
• targeted media on Facebook
• integration with Zynga's FarmVille that gave players the chance to harvest sponsored-in game crops for the chance to earn exclusive virtual goods
• the official launch of a series of online cooking "webisodes" available on the Frito-Lay Facebook page and featuring the Flavor Kitchen team

Earlier this year, Frito-Lay announced that approximately 50 percent of its products will be made with all natural ingredients by the end of 2011. This is the largest product transformation in the company's history because these products do not have artificial ingredients, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, and ingredients such as monosodium glutamate (MSG).

"When we set out to share the latest news around our product portfolio and the culinary inspiration behind our newest products made with all natural ingredients, we wanted to do it in a way that truly engaged our fans in the story," said Ram Krishnan, senior director, marketing, Frito-Lay. "Our fans responded in the biggest way possible – by setting a Guinness World Record for their engagement with us. It's a remarkable achievement and we're excited to thank the fans who made it possible."

Guinness World Records has confirmed the new record. The organization currently recognizes seven records for Facebook use (you can apply at guinnessworldrecords.com/apply):

• Most comments on a wall post (minimum: 5,000)
• Most comments on a status update (minimum: 5,000)
• Most comments on a picture (minimum: 5,000)
• Largest group (minimum: 2,000,000)
• Largest fan page (minimum: 2,000,000)
• Most likes on a status update (minimum: 5,000)
• Most likes on a picture (minimum: 5,000)

"Guinness World Records congratulates Frito-Lay on their new achievement," a Guinness World Records spokesperson said in a statement. "We are excited to see more and more social media records being attempted and encourage others to apply!"

Frito-Lay's record follows two records set three months ago by Lil Wayne and Oreo. Oreo grabbed 114,619 Likes on a single post and Lil Wayne broke the record right after when his post received 588,243 Likes.