Tiger from HTC Vivid Phone Commercial -- Sorry, I Won't Eat Cheese!!!!

The badass bengal tiger from the new HTC Vivid commercial is a total food snob ... who refuses to eat cheese ... but LOVES vanilla pudding ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the production tell us ... the tiger was a total professional on the set -- but there was one minor diva moment when it came to his diet.

We're told producers wanted to get the tiger to eat out of a crock pot at a football tailgate -- and when they ran the idea by the tiger's handler they were advised to fill it with vanilla pudding and NOT cheese ... because the tiger is a picky eater with a refined palette.

The crew heeded the trainer's advice -- and we're told the shoot went off without a hitch.