In an upset victory, Cheesy Garlic Bread has triumphed over Sriracha in Lay's Potato Chips “Do Us A Flavor” contest. Short of saying that this might indicate that the Sriracha craze has finally ebbed, we actually never got to taste any of the three finalists…so Cheesy Garlic Bread might have actually tasted better than Sriracha. At least one blog reported that the Lay's idea of Sriracha flavor doesn't taste like Sriracha at all.
For her winning entry, Karen Weber-Mendham, a librarian from Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin, will receive at least $1 million…but at least a million Sriracha fans are now asking whether they voted enough or if this even matters. Huy Fong Foods, the maker of the sauce that everybody including Trader Joe's is trying to copy, reportedly had nothing to do with the contest.
As a result of the, um, results, Cheesy Garlic Bread will remain on store shelves at least until the end of the year. The runners-up will be all but a faded memory of this silly but brilliant marketing campaign after this summer.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.