UPDATE: Feb. 26, 2016 at 6 p.m.
The latest Lay's flavors have been spotted on store shelves, which means their official roll-out has begun. We suggest you snag the limited-edition flavors while they're still around, as it's still unclear how long they'll be in stores past the March 21 voting deadline.
UPDATE: Jan. 20, 2016 at 11:40 p.m. EST
Lay's—or rather, Anna Faris on behalf of Lay's—revealed its four newest flavors for 2016 at its Flavor Swap event tonight. Fiery Roasted Habanero, Korean Barbecue, Smoked Gouda and Chive, and Olive Oil and Herbs will be hitting grocery store shelves in February, according to a press release.
The new varieties are part of the brand's new Flavor Swap promotion, where a classic flavor will go head-to-head against a brand-new one, like Cheddar and Sour Cream versus Smoked Gouda and Chive. From Feb. 8 to March 21, you can vote on which one you like best on FlavorSwap.com, and enter for your chance to win a $1,000 daily prize or the promotion's $250,000 grand prize.
ORIGINAL POST: Jan. 14 at 11:14 a.m. EST
Just months after introducing the world to the winning flavors of the latest "Do Us A Flavor" contest—bringing us gyros, reubens, biscuits and gravy, and truffle fries in potato-chip form—the brand is releasing a whole new quartet of outrageous flavor combinations. This time, however, the four aren't based on fans' submissions; they reflect the brand's predictions for the trendiest flavors for 2016.
It's like the Pantone Color of the Year for your tastebuds. Times four (or times two, since the color company released two cotton-candy tones for this year).
The flavors won't be officially announced until later this month, but the brand's dropping some serious clues to help people figure it out. It's cited Indian and Japanese spices, flowers and specialty cheeses as a few major trends for the year ahead, though it's hard to say if all of those can be found in the four new chips—or if some are a deliberate misdirect, designed to keep you guessing.
Also, all this week, Lay's has tweeted out an emoji riddle, offering one person per day the chance to win $1,000 for hazarding a guess—and, since the sweepstakes is a random drawing, you don't even have to guess correctly to score a grand.
Here's an example of one riddle, which many believe is smoked gouda and dill, wheat, chives or...something seasoning-ish:
Naturally, the sweepstakes has also inspired plenty of trolling tweets, suggesting the new flavor could be a "goat's a**" or a "goat fart," among other unsavory terms.
The trolling goes both ways, though, considering the brand sent the media samples to taste—with a distinct twist. Lay's sent eight white, single-serving bags, only marked with "Flavor 1," "Flavor 2," all the way through "Flavor 8," despite there being only four new flavors.
Half of the bags featured existing flavors; our job, as dutiful reporters, was to separate the everyday from the up-and-coming. So, naturally, we assembled a team of taste-testers to give their best guesses.
Bags 1-4 were immediately ruled out as existing flavors—cheddar and sour cream, sour cream and onion, sea salt and cracker pepper (kettle chips), and biscuits and gravy, we guessed—leaving us with Bags 5-8. Here are the reactions:
Bag 5: An orange-y chip that included sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, tomato powder and onion powder in its ingredients
- Cereal
- Baby back ribs
- Tamarind
- Sweet curry
- Honey BBQ*
*This came up multiple times, leading some to believe this was an existing flavor, but the other chips tasted so familiar that we couldn't consider them new.
Bag 6: A brownish chip with what appeared to be pepper flakes and brown sugar in its ingredients listing
- Sweet & Sour
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Steak dinner
- Lemon pepper
- Meaty tacos
- Philly Cheesesteak
Bag 7: A dark red chip that featured red pepper, garlic powder and tomato powder in its ingredients
- Fire
- Sriracha
- Nope, no thank you, gross
- A raging disappointment
- Childhood
- Andy Capp's Hot Fries
- Fiery BBQ
Bag 8: Another orange-y chip that listed red bell pepper, tomato powder, onion powder and, most notably, habanero chile peppers in its ingredients
- Ghost pepper
- Smokey jalapeño
- Paprika
- Sriracha Hot Fries
- Drunken noodles
- Drunk Thai food
- Orange-y and whimsical (yes, whimsical)
We'll update this story as soon as the new flavors are announced. If you have any guesses (or insider info), leave a comment below.
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