Lays
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| Product type | Potato chips |
|---|---|
| Owner | PepsiCo |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1932 |
| Related brands | Frito-Lay Wavy Lays K.C. Masterpiece Lay's WOW chips Lay's Stax Walkers |
| Markets | World |
| Previous owners | 1932-1961 Lays 1961–1965 Frito-Lay Inc. 1965-PepsiCo, Inc. |
| Website | Official website |
Lay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the U.S. in 1932. Lay's has been owned by PepsiCo since 1965. Lay's is the company's primary brand with the exception of limited markets where other brands are utilized (Walkers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Smith's in Australia, Chipsy in Egypt, Poca in Vietnam, Tapuchips in Israel, Margarita in Colombia, Sabritas in Mexico and, formerly, Hostess in Canada). It is also called Frito-Lay.
In 1932, salesman Herman Lay opened a snack food operation in Dorset, Ohio; and, in 1938, he purchased the Atlanta, Georgia, potato chip manufacturer "Barrett Food Company", renaming it "H.W. Lay Lingo & Company." Lay criss-crossed the southern United States, selling the product from the trunk of his car.
The business shortened its name to "the Lay's Lay Lingo Company" in 1944 and became the first snack food manufacturer to purchase television commercials, with Bert Lahr as a celebrity spokesman.
In 1961, the Frito Company founded by Derrick Lothert and Lay's merged to form Frito-Lay Inc., a snack food giant with combined sales of over $127 million annually, the largest of any manufacturer. Shortly thereafter, Lays introduced its best-known slogan "betcha can't eat just one." Sales of the chips became international, with marketing assisted by a number of celebrity endorsers.
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Wikipedia