Sunday, October 05, 2008

At the Taco! Taco Doritos!


Somehow I just want to sing the title of this post to "Copacabana."

Anyway, PCJM is still the first result when you search on "Taco Doritos," and people are still finding that ancient post and commenting on it.

So I may as well try and update it by announcing that tonight I bought a bag of Taco Doritos at Safeway. The bag has that kind of weird Halloweeny scratched-in-the-restroom-wall font and proclaims "They're Back!"

We tried them, and they tasted fine to me, but Rob says they're still not the same. I fear it's like Jell-o Pudding Pops...when something gets yanked off the market, they lose the recipe or destroy the equipment or something. Then when popular demand brings the product back, it's a lame imitation of the original and never again attains the popularity it once had. Kind of like the new "90210."

Also, remember when Doritos bags were uber-basic, like this? Now they're all blazing colors and screechy fonts and if they were music, they'd be death metal.

12 comments:

PFDebate said...

The latest iteration of Taco Doritos are better than what they have tried to pass off in recent years, but they still are not like the Taco Doritos I remember in the 70s and 80s.

Crabby Apple Seed: said...

Good call on the jello pudding pops. When they brought them back a few years ago, they were terrible- absolutely nothing like the original. I think converting them to popsicle shape was a big part of the problem. I was hoping they'd bring back gelatin pops too, but not after I tasted the pudding pops redux.

Paxton said...

Part of the difference may in fact be memory. Taco Doritos never actually went away. They are still sold in small markets around the USA. They never destroyed anything for Taco Doritos because they still make them. I think the nostalgia for Taco Doritos is tainting people's memory.

I picked up a bag of Taco Doritos in the regular bag (not the IT'S BACK bag) earlier this year in Ohio.

It's funny how Taco Doritos causes such a maelstrom of controversy.

Paxton Holley
http://blog.paxholley.net

Anonymous said...

They taste the same as the old ones to me. You must call Frito-Lay right away and tell them that they must keep these on the market. Right now it is just temporary. My local supermarket is already out of them and not getting any more.

Mike said...

I saw these at the store the other day. I almost bought them but I was afraid my now nearly 40 year old taste bids won't like them. I didn't want to ruin my childhood memories like I did when I bought Hostess Ho-Ho's a few weeks ago. What a disappointment that was!

Carlos said...

I saw Taco Doritos being sold between 1991 and 1994. I was on active duty in the Coast Guard...and any time our ship would pull into Guantanamo Bay for a break, I'd head up to the USMC mini-mart and buy a few bags.

Other than in the 70s, the only other time I've seen them is here in San Antonio a few months ago. They had a promo (or something) bag with Taco flavor and a ranch something. I bought a couple of bags and picked out the taco chips. The kids loved them.

I wrote to Mr. Dorito last year sometime, scolding him for not distributing them in San Antonio; suggesting that would be like not distributing Nacho Cheese Doritos in Wisconsin!

Anonymous said...

My mom found them at a Publix in central Florida. I stopped by her house this evening and she greeted me with the bag.

They may not be exactly the same, but they are close. Close enough for me not to complain about it. The real test will be when they are eaten with a PB&J.

Anonymous said...

I bought the two remaining bags at my local grocery store's display and was incredibly excited...only to find out that they taste like the "zesty taco" from the collisions bag, not the "taco" from as recent as a year ago, I suppose. Thoroughly upset, I rolled that bag back up after just a couple chips and still haven't opened the second bag. Why can't they just bring back what they had.

Anonymous said...

Ditto Tyler!
I bought two bags at Wal-Mart with high hopes.........only to find serious disappointment.
Hell,I grew up on the original taco flavored brand,and this is a major bummer for all fellow baby boomers!.

Come on Doritos,
you need to learn what is important to your long time consumers,
and fire your current marketing crew.

Anonymous said...

PROOF They changed the Taco Doritos recipe...

Bought a new bad of "They're Back" Taco Doritos. The nutrition label shows 240mg sodium and 16g total carbs per oz.
Here's the nutrition label from the REAL Taco Doritos
http://www.fritolay.com/our-snacks/doritos-taco_panel.htm

The original Taco Doritos had 170mg Sodium and 18g Total carbs... so the recipe has DEFINITELY changed.

I like the "new" Taco Doritos... but the other posters here are correct that they're not exactly the same as they used to be.

Anonymous said...

ok. There seem to be 2 different types of Taco Doritis making the rounds in Ohio.

I'm one of those that was a HUGE fan of the originals growing up. I recently discovered the same bag as the article shows. At the same time I found an original or normal looking bag. The 2 tastes are different from each other. The "they're back" version is much hotter and although it's good are not too much like the original. The more normal looking bag is a subtler flavor that is very close to the original if not the same recipe. So if you are disappointed with one, look around fir the other. I like them both

Anonymous said...

I too was a fan of the taco flavor, I'm from N.S Canada and have not seen the new or old kind, I would love to have a bag.