The Lay's Do Us A Flavor finalists: Crispy Taco, Everything Bagel With Cream Cheese and Fried Green Tomato Chips

July 20, 2017

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Frito-Lay North America

Get your taste buds ready because three of America's favorite dishes are about to be transformed into Lay's newest potato chips for your snacking pleasure.

After crunching through millions of fan submissions, Lay's, one of the marquee brands from PepsiCo's Frito-Lay announced today the three finalist flavors of the "Do Us a Flavor" contest.

The three flavors: Lay's Crispy Taco, Lay's Kettle Cooked Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese and Lay's Wavy Fried Green Tomato will be available in stores nationwide later this month and America's vote will ultimately decide the $1 million grand prize winner.

It will take only one bite to realize how similar these flavors are to the dishes themselves, staying true to the ingredients and inspiration provided by the finalists.

The stories behind these three savory flavors begin in towns across the United States, including Palm City, Fla., with Lindsay Hoffman's Lay's Kettle Cooked Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese; Charlotte, N.C. with Gregory Pope's Lay's Wavy Fried Green Tomato; and San Antonio, Texas with Ellen Sarem's Lay's Crispy Taco.

Sarah Guzman, senior director of marketing, Frito-Lay:

“We're excited to honor these 'Do Us a Flavor' finalists by bringing their great flavors to life on Lay's potato chips.”

“After four contests, our fans continue to amaze us with their creativity and passion, which both clearly come through in this year's flavors.”

“Each of this year's finalist flavors is a delicious expression of the dish and story that inspired it, and we're looking forward to having America decide which one will come out on top.”

Try all three and vote for your favorite flavor!

From July 24 through October 8, Lay's is asking fans to try all three flavors and vote for their favorite for a chance to win prizes every day.

Fans can vote once per day per voting platform for their favorite finalist flavor on www.lays.com; via Twitter and Instagram using the hashtags #SweepstakesEntry along with #VoteEverythingBagel, #VoteFriedGreenTomato or #VoteCrispyTaco, or via Snapchat by swiping up on their favorite finalist flavor and following the prompted instructions to confirm the vote.

They can then have a chance to win fun, flavor-themed prizes.

Starting July 30th, all three finalist flavors will be available for purchase throughout the United States.

So try all three and vote for your favorite flavor!

Do Us a Flavor: the PITCH

About the Finalists

To submit a flavor for this year's contest, fans nationwide were asked to simply "pitch" their best Lay's potato chip flavor ideas and the inspiration behind it through a photo, video and/or written description to bring the idea to life.

The three finalists and their mouth-watering flavors are:

Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese

"Lay's Kettle Cooked Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese" from Lindsay Hoffman
(Palm City, Florida.)

Lindsay Hoffman realized her calling while sitting in her kitchen in Gainesville, Fla. on a Wednesday morning.

With this chip idea, she could finally combine her morning ritual, favorite breakfast meal and her favorite leisure activity of eating Lay's potato chips into a single bite – can't get much better than that.

Fried Green Tomatoes

"Lay's Wavy Fried Green Tomato" from Gregory Pope
(Charlotte, North Carolina.)

Gregory Pope gets nostalgic when he thinks back to his family get-togethers in Georgia where fried green tomatoes - salted and peppered - were always the centerpiece of their meals.

He fondly remembers watching his dad skillfully prepare this delicious feel-good dish which also inspired his potential $1 million dollar idea.

Crispy Taco

"Lay's Crispy Taco" from Ellen Sarem
(San Antonio, Texas)

Ellen Sarem began to perfect her taco recipe when she first met her now-fiancé because it happens to be his favorite dish.

Although her first attempt was a disaster - with no salsa or cheese - she is now able to share her flavorful technique with the world through a Lay's potato chip.

Top 10 flavor selection

Are you curious about the flavors that just missed the final? Lucky for you Lay's published this year for the first time the ten SEMI-finalists:

Find out the flavors that just missed the final...

Do Us a Flavor History

PepsiCo has held "Do Us a Flavor" contests in numerous countries with consumers suggesting millions of ideas for chip flavors around the world.

In July 2012, the Lay's brand launched its first "Do Us A Flavor" contest in the U.S., which resulted in Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread submitted by Karen Weber-Mendham, a children's librarian from Land O'Lakes, Wis., being selected as the first million-dollar winner.

The contest returned to the U.S. for a second time in Jan. 2014, which resulted in Lay's Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger submitted by Meneko Spigner McBeth, a nurse from Deptford, N.J., as the second grand-prize winner.

And in January 2015, the third installment began, which later crowned Lay's Southern Biscuits and Gravy the winner.

The winning submission was from Hailey Green, a travel agent from Noblesville, Ind.

For more information and official contest rules, please visit www.Lays.com.