11 Food and Snack Mashups That Blew Up Social Media
Aug. 09, 2016Whopperrito
MIAMI -- Burger King is introducing a Tex-Mex twist to its Whopper sandwich nationwide with its new Whopperrito burger-burrito mashup. It is the latest in a burgeoning trend of food, snack and beverage combinations designed to tempt consumers and create buzz on social media.
After a local market debut that the company said sparked “widespread demand” from customers, Burger King is now taking its Whopperrito national at participating restaurants beginning Aug. 15.
The Whopperrito was conceived by a franchisee, Miami-based Burger King said.
Prepared with many of the same ingredients as the Whopper sandwich—with a creamy queso sauce replacing mayonnaise—the Whopperrito burger-burrito hybrid is made with flame-grilled 100% beef and seasoned with a blend of spices. It is then layered with freshly cut tomatoes, onions and lettuce and topped with pickles and smothered in creamy queso sauce before being wrapped in a flour tortilla.
It debuts for $2.99 and as part of a combo meal for $4.99.
Click through to view some of the other recent food and snack mashups that went viral.
Cheetos Burritos
Taco Bell created another new fast-food and snack-brand mashup—Cheetos Burritos. The burritos are stuffed with seasoned beef, buttery rice, cheese sauce and Cheetos. PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay owns the Cheetos brand.
Hostess Brownies With M&Ms, Milky Way
Hostess and Mars Chocolate North America came together to offer two new snacks: Hostess Brownies made with M&M’s chocolate candies and Hostess Brownies made with Milky Way pieces.
Mac n’ Cheetos
Burger King rolled out Mac n’ Cheetos, deep-fried macaroni-and-cheese sticks encrusted with Cheetos-flavored breading in partnership with Frito-Lay.
Sour Patch Slurpee
7-Eleven Inc. worked with Mondelez International’s Sour Patch Kids brand to introduce an exclusive, limited-time Sour Patch Redberry Slurpee. Last year, 7-Eleven introduced its first Sour Patch Slurpee flavor, Watermelon. That flavor became the first limited-time Slurpee flavor to become the top seller.
Slurpee Donut
To help mark the 50th anniversary of the Slurpee frozen dispensed beverage and coinciding with the second annual "Bring Your Own Cup Day" Slurpee promotion, 7-Eleven rolled out a new sweet snack, the Slurpee Donut. The convenience-store retailer created a Wild Cherry Slurpee-flavored cake doughnut with red sugar sprinkles that resemble the texture of the frozen drink.
Orange Crush, A&W Root Beer Pop-Tarts
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts recently popped out two new soda-inspired flavors. The toaster pastry brand introduced its first varieties mashed up with Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s A&W Root Beer and Orange Crush soda flavors.
Doritos Loaded
In 2015, Burger King tested Doritos Loaded, a triangular snack filled with melted cheese and encrusted with Frito Lay’s Doritos Nacho Cheese flavor. The product debuted exclusively at Washington, D.C., 7-Eleven convenience stores in early 2014 before going chainwide and eventually rolling out to the quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain and other snack retailers.
Doritos Locos Tacos, Chips
In 2012, Taco Bell introduced Doritos Locos Tacos, featuring a shell made out of Frito Lay’s Nacho Cheese Doritos snack chips. It has the taste of a Taco Bell crunchy taco, with beef, lettuce and cheddar cheese. It later rolled out Cool Ranch and Fiery Doritos flavors. Bringing the concept full circle, Frito Lay later introduced Doritos Locos Tacos (DLT) Tortilla Chips.
Peace Day Burger
What started as the “McWhopper proposal,” a peace offering from Burger King to McDonald’s to raise awareness for Peace Day, has developed into a much larger partnership. McDonald’s declined, but several restaurant chains approached Burger King to unite in honor of Peace Day on Sept. 21, 2015, and the Peace Day Burger was born. This culinary mashup contains parts of Denny’s Bacon Slamburger, Wayback’s Wayback Classic, Krystal’s Cheese Krystal, Giraffas’ Brutus and Burger King’s Whopper sandwiches.