Photos by: Lindsay Nardini
I was waiting in a booth at Einstein’s when Tyler walked in in what seemed to be a rush. “I just finished an interview before this one,” he tells me as he sits down across the table. Tyler Raineri was chosen from nearly 3.8 million entires as one of three finalists for Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” contest. Since February he has been promoting his new chip flavor, Sriracha, in hopes of winning the grand prize of $1,000,000.
Tyler, a Lake Zurich native and fellow Illinois State Redbird, said he entered the contest on a whim after seeing a commercial on TV. When he was asked to provide personal information, Raineri at first seemed skeptical. “I thought it was fraud at the start,” he recalls with a smile. “I wasn’t going to submit the application but then I just did it.” Well, thank God he did hit submit! Other than Sriracha, Raineri entered two more flavor entries into the contest.
Weeks went by as Raineri kept his focus on schoolwork, friends and family, and his brotherhood. Raineri is a junior Construction Management major and is minoring in Business Administration, as well as an active member of the national fraternity, Delta Chi.
“Actually they called my mom at home to leave a message for me,” Raineri recalled, smiling. “I wasn’t checking my e-mail or something that day… Then they called me two weeks later with the news that I was a finalist.” Raineri was shocked that he had been chosen as a finalist from the millions of entries submitted. Soon after he received a call about the chip bag’s design. “I was just at my girlfriends house and they called and were like, ‘we need a picture within the next couple of hours,’ it was when I was still a finalist. And there was like five minutes before the time when she helped me send it in. Thank God I did!”
Ranieri visited Lay’s headquarters in Texas where he met the culinary chefs and did flavors testing for the development of his chips. Ranieri says he did a cooking video, which was his first time on camera and lasted about 25 minutes. “I’ll admit, it was a little weird being on camera,” he said.
The next day Raineri was flown to L.A. where he had photos and shot a commercial with Eva Longoria and Michael Symon. When I asked if he was starstruck by the two mega celebrities, Ranieri responded with ease. “No, I wasn’t that nervous for some reason,” he shrugs. “I don’t know why!”
Raineri is very pleased with the chip’s taste and says his grandmother, who was the inspiration for the flavor, could not be more excited for him. Other Sriracha entires were submitted, but Ranieri’s story was reported to be the most unique. “Whenever we go to grandma’s she has her homemade chips ready for us. We all love Sriracha and eat them with a dab of it on top,” he says.
If Raineri wins the competition, he plans on donating some of the money to the Special Olympics and the Jimmy V Foundation (Delta Chi’s national Philanthropy). Raineri has a great shot of winning the competition, but he needs your help! Support your fellow Redbird and make ISU proud by voting for Sriracha up to 5 times every day! Heres how:
1. Tweet “#SaveSriracha” once every day
2. Text ‘Vote’ to 24477 (enter “lays2” in response)
3. go here: https://www.facebook.com/lays/app_291012370991143 and choose vote SRIRACHA
4. Visit the Winn Dixie Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/winndixie?sk=app_405070549575499 and vote SRIRACHA
5. Visit Target’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/target/app_361079593987830 and vote SRIRACHA for your chance to meet Eva Longoria!