If you buy a can of prepared cinnamon rolls, you usually expect the same thing every time: the classic spiral, cinnamon sugar layered through the dough, and something that unravels into a soft wheel once it bakes.
That’s why one Florida woman felt completely thrown off when the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls her husband baked looked nothing like what she thought she’d bought.
TikTok creator Jess (@messybunsandmayhem) posted a storytime about her Thanksgiving morning discovery, going viral with over 1 million views.
What Looked Different About the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
In the video, Jess explains that her husband made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, something they do every Thanksgiving. But shortly after putting them in the oven, he came upstairs with concerns.
“He comes up to the room and he’s like, ‘I think something’s wrong with the cinnamon rolls that you bought,’” she says. At first, she brushed it off. “I was like, it’s Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. We buy Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.”
Her husband didn’t let it go. According to Jess, he told her they didn’t look like cinnamon rolls at all. “They look like biscuits with, like, chocolate chips or something on them,” she recalls him saying.
Confused, Jess went downstairs to see for herself. “Y’all, he’s right,” she says. “What is going on with Pillsbury?”
Why the Packaging Threw Her Off
Jess explains that she usually buys a four-pack of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls from Sam’s Club, the kind that come with Cinnabon icing. This time, she grabbed a single pack from Walmart because she forgot she already had the bulk box at home and wanted to make sure they had cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving.
She points out that both products are labeled “cinnamon rolls.” Neither is marked as Grands. On paper, they should be the same thing.
“That’s supposed to be the only difference,” she says, referring to the icing. “They’re both regular cinnamon rolls.”
She then shows the packaging from the Walmart purchase and calls out what she believes is a misleading presentation. “Look at how they put the icing on here to make these biscuits look like a roll,” she says, pointing to the swirl design on the label.
When she shows the baked result, the difference becomes obvious. The rolls look dense and bread-like, without visible layers. “They were dense,” she says. “They did not roll like a cinnamon roll. There was no layers or flakiness.”
She compares them to the cinnamon rolls she usually buys, showing another can where the dough clearly forms the familiar spiral. “This is a real cinnamon roll they baked up,” she says. “Much lighter, much fluffier, and like a roll.”
“If we wanted cinnamon biscuits, we’d buy cinnamon biscuits,” she adds. “Don’t sell us biscuits and tell us it’s rolls.”
Commenters Say Nothing Changed
In the comments, many viewers pushed back, saying the product wasn’t new at all.
“These have been like this since I was a kid and I’m 47,” one commenter wrote.
Another said, “That is a Pillsbury cinnamon roll. Classic. You are comparing two VERY different products.”
Several people explained that Pillsbury sells more than one type. “There are two different kinds,” one person wrote. “You have to get the big ones to get the traditional cinnamon roll type ones.”
Others were less patient. “Literally nothing is wrong,” one commenter said. “Not everything is a conspiracy.” Another asked, “This is satire, right?”
@messybunsandmayhem Everyone with their canned vegetable fiasco‘s over Thanksgiving, I see you and I raise you Cinnamon Roll gaslighting by @Pillsbury #thanksgiving #cinnamonroll #pillsbury ♬ original sound – messybunsandmayhem
She Posts an Update and Admits the Mix-Up
After reading through the responses, Jess posted a follow-up video walking everything back.
“My apologies, Pillsbury,” she says. After doing some research, she realized commenters were right. Pillsbury has been selling this biscuit-style version labeled as cinnamon rolls since the beginning.
“These biscuits with cinnamon sugar in them and icing on top,” she says, acknowledging they’ve been around for decades. Still, she says the naming feels confusing, especially since Pillsbury also sells rolled cinnamon pastries under the same name.
“I don’t know why they’re called cinnamon rolls when they are not cinnamon rolls,” she says. She adds that she’s never encountered this version in almost 44 years of buying cinnamon rolls, which is why the experience felt so jarring.
Jess says it helped knowing other commenters shared her confusion. “I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong,” she says. “And here I’m wrong. So this is me eating crow.”
Just like commenters pointed out, some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are the classic spiral-style rolls, while others bake up more like a traditional bread roll.
Pillsbury has been contacted to ask how customers can differentiate between the biscuit-style cinnamon rolls and the rolled variety. The Mary Sue has also reached out to Jess (@messybunsandmayhem) via TikTok messages for comment.
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