Jake Fernandez May 13, 2011 Block 4
Pringles
Pringles is currently one of the most popular snack food brands. You can go to any drugstore or supermarket and find them on the snacks aisle, waiting to be eaten. Even more proof is that they produce about $1 billion every year. They are creatively placed in big circular cans which ads to the public’s appeal of them. The TV advertisements state “Once you pop, the fun don’t stop” (referring to the cans top lid “popping off”). The whole production began in the United States in October, 1968 and became international in the 1970s. Soon after, the first TV ads started appearing written by none other then Thomas Scott Cadden (composer of the Mr. Clean jingle). Soon after, the name Pringle became very popular. No one knows the origin of the name but some claim that it is named after Mr. Mark Pringle who made a US patent for “Method and Apparatus for Processing Potatoes” in 1937 while others say its named after two advertising employees (Proctor and Gamble) who lived on Pringle drive in Cincinnati. Pringle’s business plan consisted of three main parts. Fixing customers complaints about broken and stale chips that break easily as well as removing the air in the bag by putting it in a
aluminum container. This assignment was given to Fredric Baur who fixed all those problems while adding the trademark saddle shape to the chip. However, Fredric couldn’t figure out how to make the chip taste good so he was pulled off the project and sent to work on another brand of chip. In turn, Pringles hired Alexander Liepa who succeeded in making the chip taste like is was supposed to. An interesting fact about the chip is that its shape had no real name so scientists decided to name it a hyperbolic paraboloid (quite a mouth full). The shape of the chip is reportedly aided by supercomputers. The recipe of Pringles contains 42% potato with the remainder being wheat starch and flours. Pringles crisps are also fried, not baked. Since these were the ingredients that were incorporated into the product, snack manufacturers became angry saying that they shouldn’t be called chips. The US Food and Drug Administration officially dubbed the name to be called crisps, not chips. What the US Food and Drug Administration had no say on, however, was the flavors of the chips. There are a vast amount of flavors for Pringles chips but the most popular include salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and barbecue. Some flavors may be distributed only to limited market areas. An example is that prawn cocktail, smokey bacon, and curry flavors are only available in the United Kingdom. Other categories of tastes are seasonal flavors, a low-fat variety, limited addition flavors and, at one point, corn flavored Pringles were offered (made of actual corn). Different flavors are sold in different places all over the world ranging from jalapeno flavors in Mexico to soft-shelled crab and grilled shrimp in Asia as well as cheeseburger and Taco Night. Unfortunately, the last two flavors were later recalled due to Salmonella poisoning found in the specific flavor.
In conclusion, Pringles still remain a top competitor for the snack food industry. The unique shape and the thousands of flavors give the chip (or crisp) an advantage over other leading chip brands. The public sees the chip as an incredible invention while food reviewers say the chip is pushing the snack industry to be more creative with their food. Go to any supermarket all over the world and you will be sure to find these little saddle shaped chips in many great flavors.