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Lay's Do Us a Flavor returns with $1M contest

The winning consumer-submitted flavor will be revealed in 2025.

Lay's Do Us a Flavor returns with $1M award for best flavor idea — Courtesy of Lay's

After a seven-year hiatus, the Lay’s Do Us A Flavor contest is making its return. Once again, consumers are being challenged to do Lay’s a "flavor" by submitting their best flavor ideas for the chance to see their chip on store shelves in 2025 and win the $1 million grand prize award.

Nearly everyone has a great potato chip idea, and in 2012, Lay’s put that theory to the test with the launch of the Lay’s Do Us A Flavor contest. It ran for four iterations and became a cultural phenomenon that inspired millions of flavor submissions, resulting in 14 out-of-the-box creations.

Lay’s Southern Biscuits & Gravy, Lay’s Cheesy Garlic Bread, and Lay’s Crispy Taco wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the people who submitted the previous $1 million winning ideas. Now, Lay’s is putting the power back in its patrons' hands for a fifth time to determine what the next flavor will be. For inspiration, Lay’s is opening the Flavor Vault to bring back those three winning flavors for a limited time along with two previous finalists: Lay’s Chicken & Waffles and Lay’s Wavy Fried Green Tomato.

Starting Oct. 16 through Feb. 21, 2025, fans can submit their flavor ideas for this year’s contest at DoUsAFlavor.com. Participants can submit up to 10 unique flavor ideas each day, including the name of their flavor, its inspiration, and key ingredients. A judging panel will narrow down the contest submissions to three finalist flavors that will be developed by Frito-Lay's culinary experts and brought to market in April 2025. The winning flavor—as determined by consumer votes—will be revealed later in 2025. The two runner-up flavors will each win $50,000 in prize money and the grand prize winner will take home $1 million.

Lay’s Flavor Vault

Also starting Oct. 16, consumers can enter to win a kit featuring five winning and finalist flavors from previous contest by following @lays, liking the post, and commenting which flavor they’re most excited to try with #LaysFlavorVault and #Sweepstakes. The flavors include:

Lay’s Cheesy Garlic Bread: The 2012 winner blends creamy cheese and zesty garlic.
Lay’s Chicken & Waffles: A finalist from 2012 merges the savory flavors of fried chicken with sweet waffles and maple syrup.
Lay’s Crispy Taco: The 2017 winner reportedly packs a fiesta of flavor with hints of ground beef, sour cream, lettuce, cheese and tomato.
Lay’s Southern Biscuits & Gravy: Inspired by a family recipe, this 2015 winner offers a breakfast experience in chip form.
Lay’s Wavy Fried Green Tomato: This 2017 finalist combines the tastes of a classic southern dish with a crunch.

PepsiCo (Frito-Lay) is on the current Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery “Top 50 Snack & Bakery Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Top 50” rankings.