Kraft: Skip the Holiday Cheesecake, We'll Give You $20

First it came for our bagels. Now, our Christmas cheesecake. Thanks to a cream cheese shortage around the nation, the holiday dessert staple may be scarce this season, but Kraft is trying to put a positive spin on things with its newest offer. CNN Business reports the company, known for its Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand, is offering $20 to consumers who opt to skip the cheesecake this year—or have to, because they can't find cream cheese—and buy a replacement sweet instead.

The stipulations, per USA Today: The promotion is available to only the first 10,000 people on Friday, followed by 8,000 more on Saturday, who head over to the dedicated SpreadTheFeeling.com website and make a reservation for the $20 payout. Once you receive confirmation of your reservation, you have from the morning of Dec. 28 through 11:59pm ET on Jan. 4 to submit your receipt of a dessert or eligible "dessert ingredient" purchased between Dec. 17 and Christmas Eve.

It's the best way the company knows how to fill that "cheesecake-shaped hole in your holiday heart," per a YouTube promo by the Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand. Cream cheese demand has been especially high throughout the pandemic, as more people have been stuck at home and whiling away the time by noshing and baking. A spokeswoman for the brand tells CNN that Kraft is funneling "millions of dollars" into Philly cream cheese to try to meet that "elevated and sustained" demand. "We want to want to ensure that there's enough cream cheese for bagels, cheesecakes, and everything in between," she says. (More cream cheese stories.)