Can’t beat Rap Snacks deal: Pinky
She’s all of that and a bag of chips!
With her plant-based Slutty Vegan ATL restaurant brand, Pinky Cole is the newest notable to have her likeness grace the packaging of Rap Snacks potato chips, a hip-hop culture-inspired snack food company launched in 1994.
The Atlanta-based restaurateur said she always had big dreams of becoming a household name, but never imagined she would be in the company of hiphop royalty such as The Notorious B.I.G., Cardi B, Fabolous and Migos — who also adorn their own bags of the crunchy, munchy treats.
“It has been a dream come true,”
Cole (inset) told the Daily News. “A nonrapper on a bag of Rap Snacks just shows that rapping is more than just music. It is a universal art that can be used to bring people together.”
“The everyday goal and intention for me is to connect people and connect with people,” the Baltimore native continued. “A bag of chips that is commonly known for having rappers means the intention is clear to unite people one chip at a time.”
“Vegan is the vibe” is the motto brandished atop each colorful 1.88-ounce bag of Slutty Vegan Maple BBQ-flavored kettle chips, available at over 100,000 location across the U.S.
Cole, a Clark Atlanta University grad, initially sold jerk chicken out of an eponymous eatery on 145th St. in Harlem before it burned down in 2016. Returning to the city of her alma mater, the ex-aspiring actress – now vegan – went to work as a casting director for Iyanla Vanzant’s wildly popular reality series, “Iyanla, Fix My Life.”
Her cravings for junk food led her to pursue a passion that would ultimately change her life, and many others.
Specializing in The One Night Stand, a $15 plant-based burger with all the trimmings (including vegan bacon and cheese), Slutty Vegan initially launched out of a ghost kitchen and then expanded into food truck form.
Then came the West End Atlanta outpost of her brick-andmortar destination, which has become the talk of the town for attracting celebrities – such as Tyler Perry, Snoop Dogg, Taraji P. Henson, Lala Anthony – and customers who stand outside in line for hours on end.
For Rap Snacks founder and CEO James Lindsay, partnering with Cole was an opportunity “to make history.”
“The strength of two black-owned brands coming together made sense,” he told The News. “Our brands are viral, and I believed in what Pinky was doing with Slutty Vegan, and I wanted to find a way to align with the vegan culture that she is dominating.”
The Philadelphia-raised visionary and self-professed “snack food connoisseur” relaunched the Rap Snacks brand in 2016 and branded it as “the official snack of Hip-Hop culture.”
Lindsay sees the Slutty Vegan collaboration to a great way to offer all communities accessible, healthier options for snacks. “There isn’t a product that is currently in the market that represents the culture but also promotes healthy eating and is flavorful,” he added.
Rap Snacks is available in over 4,200 Walmart stores across the country.
“All of the products will positively feature black influencers on its packaging,” Lindsay said. “Our goal is to create food items that reflect our cultural [unlike] past depictions such as Uncle Ben’s, Aunt Jemima and brands alike.”