Jump to content

Pringles: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m Reverted edits by 199.185.67.191 to last version by ClueBot NG (GLOO)
No edit summary
Line 5: Line 5:
|type = [[Potato]] [[snack]]
|type = [[Potato]] [[snack]]
|currentowner = [[Procter & Gamble]]
|currentowner = [[Procter & Gamble]]
|origin = [[United States]]
|origin = PRINGLES ARE CAKES!
|introduced = 1968
|introduced = |discontinued =
|discontinued =
|related =
|related =
|markets = Worldwide
|markets = Worldwide

Revision as of 19:51, 10 December 2010

Pringles
Pringles logo
Product typePotato snack
OwnerProcter & Gamble
CountryPRINGLES ARE CAKES!
MarketsWorldwide
WebsiteOfficial Website
Pringles crisps

Pringles is a brand of potato and wheat based snacks produced by Procter & Gamble. Pringles are sold in over 100 countries and have yearly sales of over US$1 billion.[1]

Beginnings

Procter & Gamble chose the Pringles name from a Cincinnati telephone book, having been inspired by Pringle Drive in Finneytown, Ohio, due to its pleasing sound.[2] The original Pringles television commercials were written, produced and directed by Thomas Scott Cadden (composer of the original Mr. Clean jingle) in 1968, while working at Tatham-Laird and Kudner Advertising Agency in Chicago.

Pringles brand potato crisps were first sold in the United States in October 1968, and distributed nationally by the mid-1970s.[3]

Recipe

According to the patent, Pringles were invented by Alexander Liepa of Montgomery, Ohio.[4] Gene Wolfe developed the machine that cooks them.[5] Their consistent saddle shape is mathematically known as a hyperbolic paraboloid.[6] It has been reported that their design is aided by supercomputers.[7][8]

Pringles have only about 42% potato content, with the remainder being wheat starch and flours (potato, corn, and rice) mixed with vegetable oils and an emulsifier.[9]

They were originally known as "Pringles Newfangled Potato Chips", but other snack manufacturers objected, saying that Pringles failed to meet the definition of a potato "chip". The US Food and Drug Administration weighed in on the matter, and in 1975, they ruled that Pringles could only use the word chip in their product name within the following phrase: "potato chips made from dried potatoes."[10] Faced with such an unpalatable appellation, Pringles eventually opted to rename their product "potato crisps" instead of chips. However, this later led to other issues in the United Kingdom, where the term "potato crisp" refers to the product that Americans call "potato chips" (See legal section below).

Marketing

Pringles is advertised in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland with the slogan "Once you pop, the fun don't stop"[11] replacing the original slogan "Once you pop, you can't stop"[12].

Pringles, as a product brand, is especially known for its packaging, a tubular paper-board can with a foil-lined interior and a resealable plastic lid, which was invented by Fredric J. Baur. Baur was an organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. He died on March 4, 2008. Baur's children honored his request to bury him in one of the cans by placing part of his cremated remains in a Pringles container in his grave.[13][14][15]

The Pringles logo is a stylized cartoon caricature of the head of a male figure (commonly known as "Julius Pringles"), with a large mustache and parted bangs (until 2001, the character had eyebrows and his bow tie framed the product name). The crisps are made to a uniform size and with a hyperbolic paraboloid saddle shape, so that they can be stacked very neatly within the container, rather than being packaged loosely in a bag. The cans come in 23g, 40g, 50g, 80g[16], 100g, 110g, 145g, 150g, 155g, 160g, 163g, 165g, 170 g, 181g, 182g,190g(Party Size), 200g and 230g sizes.

Flavors

Pringles come in several flavors, and occasionally Procter & Gamble produces limited edition runs. Standard flavors include original, salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, cheddar cheese, and barbecue. Some flavors may be distributed only to limited market areas. For example, Prawn Cocktail, smokey bacon[17] and curry flavors have been available in the United Kingdom. Seasonal flavors, past and present, include ketchup, zesty lime and chili, chili cheese dog, "pizzalicious", paprika, Texas BBQ sauce, and cajun. A "low-fat" variety was also sold at one point. Examples of limited edition flavors include honey mustard, cheesy fries, onion blossom, mozzarella cheese stick, screamin' dill pickle, and Mexican layered dip. At one point, in the early 1990s, "Corn Pringles" were available. The canister was black and had cartoon images of corn as well as the normal packaging standards. The crisps were made of corn and resembled a corn chip in flavor and texture.

Pringles also produces several "multi-grain" varieties which have some of their base starch ingredients replaced with corn flour, barley flour, wheat bran and black beans.

5 new flavors were introduced in Asia, namely: Soft-Shelled crab, Grilled Shrimp, Seaweed, Blueberry & Hazelnut, and Lemon. The Grilled Shrimp chips are pink in color, while Seaweed is colored green.

Two limited market flavors, Cheeseburger and "Taco Night", were recalled in March 2010 as a safety precaution after salmonella was found in a Basic Food Flavors plant which produces the flavor-enhancing hydrolyzed vegetable protein used in those flavors.[18]

In a the UK High Court in July 2008, Procter & Gamble lawyers successfully argued against a VAT and Duties Tribunal decision that Pringles were not crisps, even though it said "Potato Crisps" on the container, as their actual potato content was only 42%. This exempted Pringles from the 17.5% Value Added Tax for potato chips and potato-derived snacks.[19] In May, 2009 the Court of Appeal reversed the earlier decision. A spokesman for Procter & Gamble stated that it had been paying the Value Added Tax protectively and owed no back taxes.[20][21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "ACNielsen Study Finds 43 Brands Have Billion Dollar Global Presence". ACNielsen.
  2. ^ "Pringles". Procter & Gamble Everyday Solutions Canada. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  3. ^ "Pringles". Procter & Gamble UK. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  4. ^ Pringles patent
  5. ^ Lawrence Person (Fall/Winter 1998). "Suns new, long, and short: an interview with Gene Wolfe". Nova Express. 5 (1). Retrieved 2008-12-17. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "PG.com Pringles: Food Network, new ideas, water usage, solid waste". www.pg.com. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
  7. ^ Supercomputers crunching potato chips, proteins and nuclear bombs, by Peggy Mihelich. CNN.com. December 05, 2006
  8. ^ Chinese Supercomputer Wrests Title From U.S., by Ashlee Vance. The New York Times. October 28,2010
  9. ^ "Pringles 'are not potato crisps'". BBC. 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  10. ^ "MARKETING: Non-Crunch on Pringle's". Time. 1975-12-08. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  11. ^ "Brand Health Check: Pringles". Marketing Magazine. 2005. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  12. ^ "Pringles". Procter & Gamble. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  13. ^ "Ashes of Pringles can designer buried in his work". Associated Press. 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  14. ^ "The Marketing Doctor Says: Take Your Brand Seriously! Frederic J. Bauer Did." Marketing Doctor Blog. June 4, 2008.
  15. ^ "Ashes of Pringles can designer buried in his work" Breitbart. June 2, 2008.
  16. ^ "80g Original Pringles". Barcodepedia. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  17. ^ "Pringles Light Aromas Range". Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  18. ^ Associated Press (March 8, 2010). "P&G recalls 2 Pringles flavors". Salon.com.
  19. ^ "Pringles 'are not potato crisps'". BBC. 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  20. ^ "Pringles lose Appeal Court case". BBC. May 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  21. ^ "British court rules yes, Pringles are in fact chips". MSNBC. May 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-20.