Lay’s potato chips are receiving a big rebrand that makes it clear that the popular snack food is made from potatoes. That might seem silly, until you realize that according to the chip maker, nearly half of the people who buy its product didn’t know the chips were made using potatoes. Seriously.
Earlier this month, Lay’s announced plans to “revamp” the “world’s most popular potato chip” and laid out what it intends to do in a press release that revealed the new chip bag design and shared the surprising statistic.
“There are more than 4,000 registered potato varieties in the world, and only 10 are good enough to become a Lay’s potato chip,” explained Lay’s in a press release that mentions the word potato nearly 30 times. “Lay’s spends up to nine years creating the best potato for farmers to grow that can deliver the perfect crisp, flavor and golden glow when sliced and cooked. The potatoes’ journey from the soil to the shelf is the heart of Lay’s. But here’s the surprising part — 42% of people who enjoy Lay’s don’t realize they’re made with real, farm-grown potatoes.”
Usually, I find press releases to be filled with exaggerated language and brand hype that I roll my eyes at, but yeah, no, that is indeed surprising. Nearly half of the people who buy and consume Lay’s chips don’t know they are made from…potatoes? It makes me wonder what they thought the chips were made out of and if they even had a guess or were just buying bags of salty and crispy snacks without much thought beyond “It tastes good.”
The new Lay’s chip bag
So to help address this problem, and also declining sales, the chip maker is rebranding its most famous product. I mean, this doesn’t seem like Lay’s problem to me, but it’s nice they are trying something. You’ll notice that the new bag design has potatoes on it. I mean, the old design literally had a potato transforming into a chip on the front of it, but apparently that wasn’t working. The new bag looks more rustic with wood paneling artwork, and even says, in big black letters, “Made with real potatoes.” Lay’s really wants you all to know that these are potato chips. Lay’s also says it’s removing artificial flavors and colors from its popular potato chip brand in the United States, too. I assume this is connected to U.S. Health Secretary and America’s 14th weirdest maniac, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and his ongoing war against artificial flavors and other chemicals he doesn’t like.
“The new visual identity celebrates the humble, farm-grown potato — where every Lay’s potato chip starts — and heroes the ingredients that deliver the unmatched flavor consumers have always loved,” explained Alexis Porter, PepsiCo’s Vice President of Marketing, Global Lay’s, in a press release. You can almost hear the desperation from Porter when talking about how these chips are made from potatoes.
Will all of this work? Who can say? It does feel like more than ever, the world is slipping into accepted stupidity, while folks seem overall less interested in learning. And if you do try to learn anything, you just end up reading AI-generated summaries filled with nonsense. Or maybe people just assume everything they buy in a store is fake and overly processed plastic pretending to be food. Probably a bit of column A and column B. I’m feeling kind of sad about the future. Seems like the perfect time to curl up on my couch and eat some chips. Wonder what these things are made out of?
