Advertising Potato Crisps

Once upon a time potato crisps (or potato chips as they are known in the US) were slivers of potato cooked in oil until they were crisp and placed in a packet with a few grains of salt in a piece of twisted blue paper.

However the 1960’s saw developments in flavours such as salt and vinegar, cheese and onion and “beefee” while other flavours were attempted less successfully (mint sauce flavour was sold for a short time and strawberry flavour was created as an experiment but never marketed).

Later years saw changes in size, texture, oil content and more flavours (Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, prawn cocktail …) until it seemed all varieties must be exhausted.

It was then that manufacturers turned to “kettle chips”. These were originally produced in 1978 by Kettle Foods, offering a healthier product by being low in unsaturated fats. Other producers copied their success with more substantial crisps with more elaborate names.
Salt and vinegar became “sea salt and balsamic vinegar” and pepper was always “cracked black pepper” .

Kettle Foods holds competitions to suggest new flavours. The 2006 contest winners were Tuscan Three Cheese and Buffalo Bleu; past contest winners include Cheddar Beer and Spicy Thai. (Wikipedia)

Here is some sample text from UK crisp packets.
* Comment on the choice of adjectives to describe the traditional flavours.
* Comment on the varied use of "crisps" and "chips"
* Do some field research yourself and come up with further examples of this type.
* Look out for examples of language relating to quality, tradition, healthy ingredients.

Comment on the Sensations example.
Look for empty comparatives.
Note that while apparently there is "real lime" and the pack features "Gently Infused Lime & Thai Spices" it then has "flavour crisps" in extremely small letters.
Advertising standards distinguish between "flavoured" meaning contains genuine elements of and "flavour" meaning tastes generally of.
The manufacturer of hedgehog crisps had to change his advertising from hedgehog 'flavoured' to hedgehog 'flavour' , as the crisps did not actually include any hedgehogs.

Comment also on the last example.
* Who is it trying to appeal to?
* What is the rationale for describing its own name as "slightly pretentious?

Carry out a tasting session to create new descriptions for existing flavours and to match up flavours to existing blurbs.

Another example of blurb from a packet of potato crisps:

Kettle Chips are a delicious, all natural, gourmet quality potato chip produced in much the same way as in a previous era when potato chips were prepared by the batch and cooked in a giant gas-fired pot. Today, virtually all commercial potato chips are mass produced on a continuous production conveyor, where good taste is sacrificed for production efficiency. To obtain the unique flavour of Kettle Chips we select only the best potatoes and slice them directly into simmering cauldrons of quality sunflower oil. Each "batch" is then carefully stirred by one of our Kettle Masters, resulting in a thicker, crispier, deliciously flavourful potato chip. We invite you to try Kettle Chips and truly experience the flavour of an authentic potato chip.

 

Look now at the meaning of a weasel word

More advertising

A History of Potato Crisps (BBC, not language related)

Humorous Guardian article on novel crisp flavours

Many crisps were destroyed in the writing of this article