Freebie-Man: Doritos Collisions

You wouldn’t think it but crisps have come a long way in the last ten years. Before the days of crisps in tubes and bumper size bags, if you wanted crisps at a party you simply grabbed a multipack bag, opened up each small packet inside and filled them in to a bowl one by one. Or if you were really weird, you left the individual packets out for people to snack on individually.

I was reminded of this by Matt, my boss at The Studio 4 Creative Ltd who was absolutely right in this matter. You just don’t see this anymore. Nowadays buy a couple of giant bags of Doritos for a party and pour them in to a bowl. Some even skip the bowl all together and then leave them out, almost as if to say “check out my fancy crisps”.

What people don’t do is leave out a giant box, with 8 packets and a sign saying “Help Yourself” but it’s something I may well try at our housewarming (yes I know we moved in a month ago), especially since Doritos just sent a big box of their latest offering ‘Doritos Collisions’. A bit of an innovation in crisps these packs contain two flavours in one so you won’t even need to break out separate bowls.

It’s odd, and seems like it shouldn’t really work. Guests will quickly remark “Why don’t the flavours simply rub off on to one another?”. The trick here being that Doritos have carefully selected two flavours that go well together, so although there is a slight degree of mixing their tastes don’t necessarily clash. They’ve also managed to coat each crisp in its individual flavour so no amount of mixing can take away from their tastes.

Chicken Sizzler is the softer of the two with a nice BBQ chicken taste and a very satisfying residue to be left on the lips. The tinges of chicken hang about for a good ten second after eating, just long enough to encourage you to take another bite. Zesty Salsa is the spicier option, but not too hot as to put off those in the mood for chicken. Having Salsa on the crisps also means one less dip to buy.

Crisps may not seem very innovative but Doritos have succeeded in making a distinctive product in probably the most crowded marketplace you will ever see. Just walk down the entire aisle most supermarkets dedicate to crisps to see just what they’ve achieved in terms of differentiating from the competition. It doesn’t take away from their core product but will definitely stand out at any party, and that’s really all you need.