Why Doritos 3D Vanished Completely

Millennials — we all remember the 1998 Doritos 3D Super Bowl commercial, right? Miss USA 1996 Ali Landry walked into a laundromat in tight jeans and white crop top, dumping a bag of standard Doritos into a dryer while two guys watched in awe as the chips were transformed into a new, 3D version. Landry caught them in her mouth easily as she moved through a series of choreographed moves, of course. But what ever happened to that puffed Dorito treat?

Much like the gimmicky Orbitz drinks and bite-sized Butterfinger BBs (which we'd love to taste again), Doritos 3D are a snack that was largely left in the '90s — but why? The snack was widely beloved, and it's tough to understand why Frito-Lay, the parent company of the Dorito brand, would take such a well-received product off of store shelves.

There are a few different theories as to why Doritos 3D went out of commission in the early 2000s. Like many hit products in the '90s, these Doritos were a novelty. It's possible that while initial sales were high, consumers lost interest (especially because Doritos 3D were even more likely to cut your mouth up than the standard chip). It's also possible that production costs were too high to justify keeping the product in circulation.

If you can't stop thinking about getting your hands on a bag of Doritos 3D, there's still a chance that you'll have the opportunity to purchase them again. In 2020, Frito-Lay announced that it was bringing Doritos 3D back on the market due to high demand, rebranded as Doritos 3D Crunch. The original Doritos 3D were offered in Zesty Ranch, Nacho Cheese, and Jalapeño Cheddar varieties, while the revamped Doritos 3D Crunch snacks were available in Spicy Ranch and Chili Cheese Nacho. The change in flavor wasn't the only thing that was different about Doritos 3D Crunch — the new snacks were also baked instead of fried, like their traditional counterparts. If you're craving a similar flavor to the original version, you might want to try sprinkling some homemade Dorito seasoning on Bugles, as the pointy snacks have a similar texture to Doritos 3D.

The updated snack hit grocery store shelves across America in 2021, but their tenure didn't last long. While the Doritos website doesn't give any information on Doritos 3D Crunch, fans have come to the consensus that they can no longer be found in the United States (and were possibly discontinued around 2023). Some travelers say that they've been able to find the updated version of the chips in Mexico, so it might be worth a trip across the border if you live nearby and have been craving a taste of nostalgia.