The widely circulated meme that chips are just bags of air is becoming less of a joke and more of a reality. Several folks online have revealed their disappointment at opening a snack, only to be greeted by nothingness. One consumer’s experience, however, may have taken the cake after they bought an entire box of Doritos—and discovered there may be truth to the “Doritos theory.”
Mom and TikToker @luvmyboys_241203 shared a viral video filming her family opening a 50-count box of Doritos. None of them contained the finger-licking orange-dusted chips, however. At the onset of the clip, a woman opens one bag to reveal that it is completely empty.
“Deada– a bag of air?” a man off camera says. Then a child opens a second bag and quips, “Bro, this is air!”
The family proceeds to open two more bags, all completely empty, save for one single crumb in one of the bags.
“One single dot?” The kid says, while the man adds, “That’s some bulls—.”
The video ends with the child repeating, “Air, Air!” as the camera pans to the box of Doritos.
The TikToker added in the caption, “Looks like the Doritos theory is true ‘Doritos paying for air.’”
What Is The Doritos Theory?
First popularized by TikTok, the Doritos Theory refers to the notion that eating potato chips is “addictive” because they only taste good while you’re eating them, not after. A USA Today article from 2024 reported on the TikToker who spoke about the “theory.”
“In short, ‘Experiences that aren’t truly satisfying are maximally addictive.’ This may apply beyond potato chips to other habits in your life, like the infinite scroll on TikTok, or even something as serious as toxic relationship patterns,” it reported.
In other words, it’s about unhealthy habits and the challenge of trying to break them.
However, it is unlikely that @luvmyboys_241203 was talking about this Doritos Theory, in particular. Instead, she’s more than likely referring to the widely held theory that chip manufacturers are tricking customers with their packaging.
Doritos, Lays, and other chips have been lambasted for the amount of air their bags contain for years. One Food Beast article claimed the bags contain about 47% air, but in 2021, popular YouTube creators claimed it was closer to 90%.
In 2021, The Food Theorists uploaded a video on YouTube titled, “Are Doritos a RIP OFF?” In the clip, which earned 6 million views, the creators tackle the issue of Doritos bags being about “84% air.”
“Why are chip manufacturers so incredibly wasteful with their packaging?” the creator asks in the clip. He then goes on to try to figure out that very question. In the end, his experiment concludes that having 84% air in the bag does, in fact, “cut down on chip breakage.” Who knew?
@luvmyboys_241203 Looks like Doritos theory is true “Doritos paying for air” #payingforair #doritos
Viewers Want Justice
Still, the air found in @luvmyboys_241203’s Doritos bags was more than just 84%. Her disbelief sparked a wave of backlash against the chip manufacturer, and many demanded to know where she bought the box from. The TikToker first claimed it was Costco before correcting in a comment that it was actually at Sam’s Club.
“U bought the trick or treat version,” a top comment with 14,000 likes read. Another urged her to contact the company, writing, “This happened to us with ginger ale. Something to do with the conveyer belts. They replaced it.”
One user who says they had experience with this sort of blunder wrote, “I used to work at Jimmy John’s, this tends to happen a lot more than you think the machines that are meant to fill the bags with chips have some type of errors like the miss the bag or the bag just gets missed.”
When one user asked whether the creator had gotten a refund, @luvmyboys_241203 replied, “I have not submitted anything, this just happened today!”
The TikToker has yet to post a follow-up video, but BroBible has reached out to them via TikTok direct message for comment. We have also reached out to Frito-Lay via email.