Pringles are a beloved snack well-known for its addictiveness (“Once you pop, you can’t stop“). There are a few other interesting factors that set Pringles aside from other potato chips.
Firstly, Pringles have been called many things, because it is not strictly a potato chip. When it first debuted, other snack companies complained that it was not technically a potato chip as they were made from dried potatoes, so they were labelled “potato crisps“. Ironically, the company successfully argued in 2008 that Pringles were not “potato crisps”, using the logic that they were not of natural shapes and only contained 42% potato as they are made from potato-based dough. This was so that they could avoid the British tax on potato crisps.
Secondly, Pringles chips have a characteristic saddle-shape, known in mathematics as a hyperbolic paraboloid. This creates a uniform shape, meaning they can be stacked neatly in a tubular container for efficient and reliable packaging, as opposed to most potato chips that are packaged in bags. Furthermore, the shape is structurally sound, preventing the chips from breaking under the weight of the stack.
Finally, the inventor of the cylindrical container was a chemist named Fredric Baur, who started the process of making Pringles. His dying wish was to have his ashes buried in a Pringles can and this wish was respected by his children.
