Darland entered a contest on Facebook last summer after a friend, Jake Meyers, told her about it. The contest was called Choose the Cheese, where people could vote on the new type of Cheez-Its to be produced. People could earn ‘points’ for their desired flavor by playing games and putting in Likes on the contest. “We voted for it everyday because we wanted Asiago Cheez-Its,” Darland said, “ [We] both had like over 7000 votes each.”

Despite their efforts, the Asiago flavor was beaten out by the Colby Cheese flavor by about seven million votes. However, the top 50 players with the most votes were rewarded with a yearlong supply of Cheez-Its, which both Darland and Meyers won.

Now, every month a representative from the company sends an email to the winners asking which flavor of snacks they would like that month. A case of 12 boxes is sent out after the response, and they can only chose one flavor for each month. If participants do not respond back, the Original flavor is sent out to their designated address. With 19 options to chose from, they have only five days to respond with their decision.

Jessica’s family and friends met this news with a number of reactions. “Well my dad said they were his since I technically had to place his name because it [had to be] someone 18,” Darland said. “And my friends were all jealous and they said that I had to give them some, and so I just give a bunch out each month since I can’t really eat 12 boxes a month, I’d be really fat.”

With the fact that she gives out many boxes to friends each month, her default holiday gift this year was no surprise.
“I put bows on them and give them out for Christmas and now I’m down to two boxes and I had 18 at the beginning of the month,” Darland said.

Darland likes Cheez-Its because they are cheesy and salty, and that they are easy for her to eat with her braces. She doesn’t like Cheez-Its competitor, Cheese Nips, as they have a certain spice which she does not like. Her favorite flavors are Parmesan, Garlic, and Parmesan & Garlic. Overall, Darland notes that her loyalty to the Cheez-It brand has increased, and that the contest was a good idea.