Monday, September 24, 2007

Lays runs out of ideas for potato chip flavors

Can it be that the good folks at Lay's have completely run out of ideas for potato chip flavors? While reading the back of a Lay's Original Potato Chips bag, I read the following:
...We add salt for flavor as the final touch. In fact, we can't think of anything else that would make our crispy chips more delicious.


Say What???? A quick trip to the Lay's Website revealed a long list of flavors other than "salt".

LAY'S Chile Limon Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Dill Pickle Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S FLAMIN' HOT® Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Hot'n Spicy Barbeque Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Potato Chips
LAY'S Kettle Cooked Maui Onion Potato Chips
LAY'S Kettle Cooked Mesquite BBQ Potato Chips
LAY'S Kettle Cooked Original Potato Chips
LAY'S Kettle Cooked Reduced Fat Original Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips
LAY'S Light KC Masterpiece® Barbeque Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Light Original Potato Chips
LAY'S Lightly Salted Potato Chips
LAY'S Limon Tangy Lime Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Natural Country BBQ Thick Cut Potato Chips
LAY'S Salt & Vinegar Artificially Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Sour Cream & Onion Artificially Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Wavy Au Gratin Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Wavy Hickory BBQ Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Wavy Ranch Flavored Potato Chips
LAY'S Wavy Regular Potato Chips

What kind of super dysfunctional siloed organization is Lays if the marketing team for the original flavor potato chips has no idea about the other flavors the company makes?

I suppose there is an alternative explanation. Perhaps, it is the "more delicious" part that matters. Maybe they mean that all those alternative flavors are not "more delicious" but, at best, equally delicious if not inferior. "This is it folks, we tried and tried and this is as delicious as it gets. If you don't like this chip then you won't like any of our chips. We have completely run out of ideas so you might as well stop now and switch to pretzels."

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