Review: Lay’s Flavor Icons

It's been quite a while since I did a Taste Test Review of the special edition Lay's Potato Chips. In the past, it was known as the "Do Us a Flavor" contest, but this time around, they're calling it "Flavor Icons."  The new crop of flavors highlight classic offerings from four iconic American food vendors. 

In order to get a few different perspectives on these, I asked my husband and two of my daughters to participate in the taste test. 

First up: Philly Cheesesteak chips, inspired by Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia. 

These were the first ones we tried, and ended up being my favorite of the bunch. The chips are wonderfully savory, and actually have a very subtle beef flavor that comes through, along with the cheese and onion flavors. I'm not a big fan of beef, to be honest, but I do enjoy mashed potatoes with beef gravy, and that's what these taste like to me (if it was cheddar mashed potatoes with gravy, that is). Other beef-based flavors have been attempted in the past, and they all smelled weird. This time, they went lighter on the aroma side, and it worked out well, helping to create a more balanced flavor profile. I also liked that these were standard chips (not Kettle Cooked or Wavy), so  I would actually buy these again. 

Next up: New York Style Pizza, in honor of Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn, NY.

I really wanted this one to be my favorite, since I'm from Brooklyn and have actually eaten Grimaldi's pizza on several occasions. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of Kettle Cooked chips (too hard and crunchy and loud for my liking) but this did end up being the big winner for my daughters. They said these chips "taste just like Pizza Goldfish crackers", and my husband said they taste like "Bagel Bites tomato sauce". Translation: these chips taste like pizza flavoring, not like actual pizza. They smell a little like tomato, and they do have a white cheese saltiness tinged with oregano (another herb that I don't like very much). I wouldn't eat these again but my daughters love them and plan on finishing the entire bag.

The third flavor we tried was one I was really curious about: Carnitas Street Taco chips, in honor of El Torito Mexican Restaurant in Marina Del Rey, California. 

These were disappointing. I expected a lot of flavor, especially since there are the Wavy style chips, which tend to hold more of the flavoring powder and offer a more intense, in-your-face taste. Instead, we all had a tough time getting a handle on what these taste like at all--there was no one discernible flavor that stood out, other than "green". When I opened the bag and took a quick whiff, it smelled like lettuce, or maybe green bell pepper, but very faint. The chips are salty and just a little bit spicy, but I didn't detect any pork flavoring. It did have a hint of cilantro flavor, which is interesting because normally cilantro tastes like soap to me, so I did appreciate finally being able to taste it. My husband said he also detected some jalapeno flavor, but without the usual heat, and he declared these his favorite of the bunch.  My overall verdict, which my daughters also concurred with: Meh. We didn't hate them, but we didn't love them.

Last but not least: Nashville Hot Chicken chips, inspired by Party Fowl in Nashville, TN.

I enjoy spicy food, and I love putting tabasco sauce on fried chicken, but these chips did not duplicate that flavor experience for me--I started coughing and choking after the first bite, and after a few more, I needed a tissue because my nose started to run. The spice was overpowering, with only a slight hint of chicken flavoring at the very end. My girls also found these unpleasant, but my husband liked them very much, so go figure. If you're a fan of Flaming Hot snack foods, you'll probably like these. For me, I guess I prefer the spice to be on actual food to enjoy it, not just placed on top of a chip. 

Final verdicts, ranked from Best to Worst:

Me: Philly Cheesesteak, New York Style Pizza, Carnitas Street Taco, Nashville Hot Chicken

Husband's Rankings: Carnitas Street Taco, Nashville Hot Chicken, Philly Cheesesteak, NY Style Pizza

Daughters' Rankings: NY Style Pizza, Carnitas Street Taco & Philly Cheesesteak tied, Nashville Hot Chicken

Advertisers Tracking Us With GPS? I Think So.

This morning, I got an unsettling email advertisement from Home Depot, with info and photos on bathroom faucets.  

Why am I creeped out by this, you ask? 

— I was just at Home Depot two days ago, looking at exact model, because I'm thinking of replacing the faucet we have in the powder room.

— I did not do any internet searches or talk about faucets with anyone, either beforehand or afterwards. I was, however, standing in the faucet aisle for about 10 minutes with my cellphone in my hand, and did check my work emails while I was there. 

— The email went to a work email address that is not affiliated with any social media accounts, and would not have been on any Home Depot mailing list. 

I've had similar experiences in the past, but thus far they involved other email addresses that are tied to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, so a certain amount of "integration" (aka tracking) is expected.  This was the first time my work email was targeted, and I am convinced that big chain stores like Home Depot have acquired the ability to track you using the GPS on your phone, right down to the exactly aisle you've visited in their store, and target you with ads for that product. 

I'm not usually big on conspiracy theories, but I honestly can't think of another explanation for occurrences like these.

It reminded me of the scene in the 2002 movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise walks through a store and, thanks to facial recognition technology (which was not widely used back then the way it is now), he is bombarded with personalized pop-up advertisements that mention him by name.