Dive Brief:

• Lay's has debuted a chocolate-covered version of its Wavy potato chip brand.
• The chips are available only at Target stores and only through the holiday season, although the chip maker says it will revisit that decision if sales are good.
• The product, which sells for $3.49 for a 5-oz bag, represents an unusual move into premium prices for Lay's.

Dive Insight:

There are so many things about this product we find disturbing. But let's start with the most glaring -- combining these two particular foods. It appears that the folks at Frito Lay noticed that food manufacturers are suddenly combining salt and sugar tastes in new ways. That's because the subtle blending of disparate flavors is, in fact, the key to sophisticated food. But neither milk chocolate nor potato chips can be considered subtle or sophisticated. And combining them is disastrous, like putting kiwi on pizza or pouring Pepsi on breakfast cereal.

None of which is to say that Lay's chocolate potato chips won't sell. They probably will. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised to find they sell like crazy. Because if anything in the food business is true it's that Americans don't require their food to be sophisticated or subtle.