Dive Brief:
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Kellogg's Pringles brand has debuted a special, limited-edition Thanksgiving Dinner set of its snack chips in eight different flavors: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, creamed corn, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese and pumpkin pie.
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The product, which is being introduced through a pilot taste test and has only limited availability, is not available for retail sale this season.
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"Pringles are known for bold flavors and endless flavor stacking possibilities, so this holiday season we wanted to introduce snack-lovers to a new way to enjoy Thanksgiving favorites," Kurt Simon, Pringles' senior director of marketing, said in a statement. "The Pringles Thanksgiving Dinner flavors are not only new but cover every course of the real meal — from the main event, to sides and even dessert."
Dive Insight:
Besides the novelty factor — shoppers could be interested to see how close the advertised tastes comes to their real-life counterparts — it's hard to tell how many people would actually buy the Pringles Thanksgiving Dinner. It doesn't come in the standard tube, but is packaged in a TV dinner-like plastic tray with little compartments.
Pringles is exploring the flavorings frontier with its products these days. There's a stack of Pringles offering dill pickle, cheeseburger and cheddar cheese flavors; a Halloween Stack featuring cheddar cheese, buffalo ranch and jalapeno; a Pizza Stack with BBQ, honey mustard and pizza flavors; and even Top Ramen chicken-flavored Pringles. These flavors, along with the Thanksgiving Dinner, could appeal to millennials and other individuals who like trying new and different flavors.
Pringles isn't the only snack brand offering special Thanksgiving-themed products. Trader Joe's sells Turkey and Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips, and Boulder Canyon has a line of Turkey and Gravy, Cranberry, Stuffing and Pumpkin Pie kettle cooked potato chips. California's Yummy Cupcakes whips up Turkey Cranberry Gravy cupcakes, as well as Pumpkin Pie ones, while the Oregon-based Salt & Straw ice cream chain churns up a Salted Caramel Thanksgiving Turkey Ice Cream.
Kellogg is also putting its holiday-themed pressed snack chips front and center on social media channels. The Pringles Thanksgiving Dinner product is being featured in a video on Facebook and photos of other special flavor offerings are also posted on Instagram.
It's uncertain whether the product will eventually be found across grocery store shelves in the future — that might depend on how realistic the tastes are — but Kellogg seems to be going about this unique product launch in the right way. It's doing a limited release to get consumer feedback and increase excitement, while at the same time turning to social media to drum up more support.
Several hundred would-be customers were asking on Facebook where the product might be available for purchase following a posting of the news on Thursday. Not everyone was happy with what they felt to be nothing but a tease and expressed disappointment at not being able to get a Pringles Thanksgiving Dinner. Even if the majority of fans and curious consumers can't get their hands on the limited-edition item, the marketing ploy generated plenty of buzz and excitement about what Pringles might be doing next. That alone should give Kellogg reason to be thankful.