Ah yes, we'd get these in our lunch sacks at Rodeo Day every year, and eat them sitting around construction paper "campfires" in all our cowboy/cowgirl gear. I feel really old.

I remember tasting these for the first time after thinking, "Ew, who'd want to eat ranch on a corn chip?" and then after I had one.....that was it, I was hooked! The flavoring seemed to be lighter back then, though, these days, chips are so coated with flavor it's really too strong or off-putting.

Cool ranch doritos debuted here in my part of canada in 1991. I remember it vividly cause my friend and I drove to buffalo to get cheap beer and on the way back across we found the new display of cool ranch. They were a little sickening back then, now they dont have enough seasoning.

They have a 1988 commercial of these with Jay Leno on youtube

Frito Bandito sez Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Does anyone remember in the late 80s when they had either a low calorie or low fat version of Cool Ranch, where the chips were slightly thinner? I used to love them because it seemed they had more seasoning. And a pro tip was to leave them in the freezer before eating for some Cold AF Ranch. Nobody remembers the low cal/low fat version from back then, and I can't find any info online.