When it comes to weird potato chip flavors, Lay’s is king. The company, Frito-Lay, was initially founded in 1932 to sell plain, standard chips. Now, long after merging with PepsiCo in the ’60s, they’re constantly unveiling wacky flavors that you couldn’t even dream up. Let’s just say, they’re not your father’s potato chips anymore.
They’ve made chips that taste like a deep-dish pizza, chips that taste like chili con queso, and even a chip that tastes like a lobster roll. The latter probably isn’t something New Englanders were super fond of, but at least they tried their best to emulate the popular sandwich.
However, the latest flavor has even less appeal — at least to pickle fans.
Now, Lay’s has experience with pickle chips. They have a dill pickle variety that’s pretty easy to find in stores, and have also released Fried Pickles with Ranch, which reportedly made a comeback this January after disappearing off shelves for a bit. So, do they need a third variety?
According to Lay’s, yes. Yes, they do.
The latest pickle flavor is called Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Remix. And, well, no thanks.
I prefer my pickles to be crunchy and cold, thank you very much.
Things like this make me feel like we’ve already peaked as a society. Especially the bottom one, “Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Remix” it’s like word vomit. Who asked for these flavors?! pic.twitter.com/3oFBGPbwzA
— CLT sports curse (@playboiGreaz) February 28, 2019
The new flavor is one of three that’s been released.
Lay’s chose a musical theme, with Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Remix reportedly representing hip-hop.
@LAYS introducing three new flavors: Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Remix, Kettle Cooked Classic Beer Cheese, and Electric Lime & Sea Salt. pic.twitter.com/ORrzugIfuM
— TodayInSports (@TodayInSportsCo) February 28, 2019
The other flavors are Kettle Cooked Classic Beer Cheese for rock music and Wavy Electric Lime Sea Salt for pop.
Which, okay.
i'm more of a rock guy but i like the sound of flamin' hot + dill pickle, I hope i can make it work
— Chris "" Eberly (@chriseberly) February 28, 2019
Not going to lie, the beer cheese chips sound pretty good.
Probably because beer cheese is delicious, and both beer and cheese can easily go with chips.
Pickles go with chips, but perhaps Lay’s got it right the first time.
These days, when I think of Flamin’ Hot snacks, I think of all the poor people who’ve had to be hospitalized due to overindulgence.
Flamin' Hot Cheetos responsible for rapper Lil Xan's trip to hospital: https://t.co/UCFj4Yo1iS pic.twitter.com/p97qPle8jO
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) September 26, 2018
Oddly enough, Lay’s has been thinking this up for some time. Just look at this tweet from last November:
Nothing will get you fired up for #NationalPickleDay like Lay’s Dill Pickle and Flamin’ Hot. 🔥🥒 What if we combined these two flavors into one? Thoughts? 🤔 #Lays pic.twitter.com/apWKGymmik
— LAY'S (@LAYS) November 14, 2018
However, I don’t think anyone thought it’d be a reality. Maybe just a weird combo that select people liked, at the very least.
😜😜😜
— LAY'S (@LAYS) November 14, 2018
And how does that tie in with hip-hop music? Who knows.
All I know is that people were a little turned off.
— Visitor (@HEYITSJUSTMe333) November 15, 2018
Numbers aren’t everything, but the initial tweet only had 140 likes. Lay’s has over 450,000 followers.
Spicy pickles aren’t really my thing but those 2 flavors are my favorites, separately though 🤷🏻♀️
— Delia 🌻 (@DeliaEmily711) November 14, 2018
Still, it’s a weird food combination that people have actually experimented with before, outside of Lay’s suggestion.
On Reddit, a brave Reddit user talked about a coworker who used Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and pickle juice in an… interesting way.
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The thought of the concept grossed out a lot of people. So much so that they didn’t even want to see photos.
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Does the dill juice help lower the intensity of the Cheeto? Or, is it just plain gross?
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At the very least, the company thought outside the box.
That’s commendable. But, can we talk about the Electric Lime Sea Salt chips as well? In my head, these would taste like summertime. But, I’m curious as to what makes them electric.
Sadly, it’s the one flavor of the three that’s not generating a lot of buzz.
It’s unclear how long these flavors are going to stick around.
You might want to ask musical artist Bebe Rexha, since she’s helping promote all three flavors.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdHmLCDFbcQ"]While some chip fans have seen them on display, People reports that all three will be available starting on March 4th.
Who knows — maybe the pickle flavor will be better than anticipated.
Or, maybe you can just get a bag of the Fried Pickles with Ranch flavor because that actually looks like it has a lot of potential. It definitely seems like it’s much less harsh.
I can’t wait to see what other crazy flavors will debut in 2019.
Maybe we should all check the Lay’s Twitter account to see if they’ve already dropped clues.
