Wingstop’s Candy Collab Is One We Didn’t See Coming

Sometimes, a food collaboration hits you like a surprise left hook. Boxing imagery! Who’d have thought I’d be using that today? It’s appropriate, though: In the head-spinning world of food brands and their endeavors, it takes a lot to surprise this seasoned troubadour. But then, Wingstop goes ahead and collaborated with Sour Patch Kids, and everything I once knew it thrown into disarray. 

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Yes – that’s exactly what I’m about to talk about. The wing restaurant and the candy brand have created a new wing flavor that will either be a gamechanger or cause a fair few sugar crashes. Let’s roll up our sleeves, lay our napkins on our laps, and dig in. 

Wingstop x Sour Patch Kids

Yesterday, Wingstop announced its new collaboration with Sour Patch Kids (which recently flipped inside out) and its new flavor, Sour Patch Kids Wicked Punch. “Candy on wings? We know exactly what you’re thinking. But no, seriously, it has no business being this good,” said Wingstop CEO and president, Michael Skipworth, in its press release. The idea here is that each wing is a sweet-sour affair, much like Sour Patch Kids themselves. Each Wicked Punch wing starts with a Sour Then Sweet Redberry glaze, and it’s then finished with Sour Patch Kids Bitz. 

So, yes: There’s literal candy on this Wingstop flavor. That’s what I’m slightly struggling with here. If these wings just had a candy-inflected glaze, I’d get it; wings and sweetness go hand-in-hand, after all. But chewy candy bits? I think I may have to be sold on this one. What I will say, though, is that Wingstop and Sour Patch Kids get points here for bravado and audacity. There aren’t a lot of people out here putting literal candy pieces on chicken wings, and we guess that someone has to do it, right?

Sour, Sweet, Spooky

Wingstop and Sour Patch Kids’ Wicked Punch wings are the restaurant’s flagship Halloween drop this year, and they follow in a long tradition of out-there seasonal creations (which we’re seeing plenty of this year; I’m still thinking about Hidden Valley’s Spooky Ranch). If you want to try them, though, you’ll have to move relatively quickly. Wicked Punch drops on October 23 for Wingstop members, and the flavor will be unleashed upon the general public on October 27. It’s due to disappear after November 5, so in total, there are slightly less than two weeks to sample it. Quick! Fly, my pretties, fly!