# What took Lay's so long to copy Pringles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147 "2000-05-10T18:36:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fanny\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3be4f8/32.png) [@Fanny\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fanny_May)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/1 "2000-05-10T18:36:47Z")
What took Lay’s so long to copy Pringles? Has anyone taken Marketing? Why would Lay’s wait until now to copy Pringles and have “formed, not sliced” chips in a can? Didn’t they have decades to do this? I’ve seen lots of “constituted” snacks in their line up over the years, most in the chip category but some in snack crackers. What took them so long to come around? Pride, do you suppose? But they must have realized they could cut Pringles’ sales in half the first day they announced, even if they followed anti-trust rules and didn’t low-ball the price. Any thoughts Mr./Ms. Marketing Major? ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/2 "2000-05-10T20:45:42Z")
Actually, if you think back, there were many potato ‘crisp’ products by Frito-Lay, but none quite like the Pringles. I’d guess that some key patent expired. I took a quick glance through the patent database for (potato and chip) and (potato and snack). Very enlightening, but the search engine only went back to 1976. Also looking at the ‘referenced patents’ in patents found by the “Abstracts only” engine, I found more that the search engine missed. Maybe the Full Text engine would have done a better job – but I only do this in spare moments I’m mean I’m not a _total_ loon. Still, the patents I found were intriguing, and brough back many snack memories (and made me ravenous - I skipped lunch) The Patent database is a much under appreciated tool. BTW, did you know that in 1995, [Frito-Lay Inc sued Procter & Gamble Co. for falsely advertising](http://www.courttv.com/legaldocs/business/pringle.html) that its Pringle’s potato chips “are healthier or more nutritionally beneficial than the Frito-Lay products.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/3 "2000-05-10T20:47:40Z")
I believe what KP said. Anyone with a name like that knows his taters. ---
**Author:** ![Argeable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Argeable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argeable)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2000, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/4 "2000-05-10T21:02:45Z")
oh. my. GOD! LAYS COPIED PRINGLES?? WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO??? It’s all up hill from here… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2000, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/5 "2000-05-10T21:14:38Z")
I don’t think I’ve seen the Lay’s version yet in South Florida. What are they called? How do they compare to Pringles? What I would _love_ are Pringles with like half the grease of the “light” Pringles. I don’t suppose they are any less greasy? ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2000, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/6 "2000-05-10T21:21:21Z")
Mjollnir, you slay me! You have me splatted against the wall and dripping to the floor in quivering viscous goo. Then again, by _your_ name, I’d expect no less. ---
**Author:** ![Fanny\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3be4f8/32.png) [@Fanny\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fanny_May)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/7 "2000-05-11T19:15:51Z")
I am amazed that you went digging on account of little ole me. Thank you. Patented potato chips? I’d have never thought of that! I just assumed Pringles were too-small slices and bits that were put into a blender and smashed flat. Isn’t this the way all breads and crackers have been made since the Indus Valley civilization? What’s left to patent, adding salt BEFORE frying? ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/8 "2000-05-11T19:40:36Z")
Actually, if I recall correctly (they were very mysterious when they first came out), they had a very specific process to pelletize the potatoes, dehydrate them and reconstitute them into a paste that retained some texture. The process you described would lead to fried mashed potatoes (or my many childhood efforts to make latkes from mashed potato mix) You would not believe how many different, bizarre, and messy ways _those_ experiments failed. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-took-lays-so-long-to-copy-pringles/19147/9 "2000-05-11T20:11:39Z")
Why did Lay’s take so long? Good taste. Pringles are an abomination unto the Lord and George Crum. It is significant that they are made by a soap company. Why anyone would want to eat greasy cardboard from a tennis ball can is one of the great mysteries of the age.