Monday, May 3, 2010

Classic Salted vs Uncle Chips vs Sour cream

People always mention how a person is known by what he drinks. Single malts guys vs beer guys vs Martini guys etc. Without discounting the importance of a drink based classification, I think a person is really known by the potato chips he consumes.

I have always been an Uncle chips guy. Uncle chips is this flavor available in a green pack in India (I haven't seen it in the west so far). It was earlier a company in itself but now it comes under the Lays banner. I grew up eating Uncle chips. From my memory, it was the probably the first chips in India. Lays came much much later. At the time of the entry of Lays into India, a lot of kids changed camps. These people were a disgrace to the Uncle chips community. The Uncle chips community however, was not able to save the chips from dying and the company stopped production. This was a period of my life, I guess about 4-5 years when I had no Uncle chips. Everytime I would walk into a confectioners, I would search through the rack with a tilted eye just in case Uncle chips is back. The chips were no longer picked up from the racks but told to the shopkeeper to be put in the bags. Those were disappointing days. I think the withdrawal of the chips has caused more sorrow and grief to Indian people than any other historical activity. Then something happened on the corporate side and now Lays decided to revive the brand. One fine evening, I spot a pack of Uncle chips. I just couldn't believe it. I took up the pack in my hands and felt it. Is it really Uncle chips. Yes, they are back! The rejuvenation helped me excel and succeed in life. I am sure this feeling is shared by other Uncle chips loyalists as well.

But there are all kinds of people in this world who have a liking for the different flavors. I think the three most popular ones for me are Classic Salted and Sour cream apart from Uncle chips. I know there are people who like tomato, and masala and pudina and what not. If you are one of them, you must know that there is not a chance that you can be respected by the people who like the more subtle flavors. You are the ones who would order your pink and blue drinks at a bar, sit around showing the world your blue lagoons, Singapore Slings or tequilla sunrises or all those strawberry stuff without a slightest realization of how uncool you are. The classic salted guys, sour cream guys and the Uncle chips guys are really the Martinis and the single malts of the chips business.

Am short on time, more later.

6 comments:

  1. looks like someones exams just got over :D

    nice humorous tone to the whole thing :)

    but if i am not mistaken, were not the green uncle chips preceded by the maagic masala and classic salted by lays ?

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  2. Dear dvbydt,

    "At the time of the entry of Lays into India, a lot of kids changed camps. These people were a disgrace to the Uncle chips community." -- LOL at the senatorial overtones.

    "The rejuvenation helped me excel and succeed in life." <------- can't help reading this..l.m.a.o. :-D

    Good one. Nice.

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  3. Pravesh has also consented to contribute observational comedy material to this blog. I think by the time he is done with his PhD we would have enough material to start a series in India.
    @Karitk, Vivek - If you guys are interested I would look forward for material from your side as well.

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  4. The Lays was a foreign chips brand and it entered India much later after uncle chips. Magic masala and stuff were Lays offerings which came later. I think I still have uncle diaries (they used to come free with the pack) preserved from those days.

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  5. Awesome post... :D ... I personally like classic salted... but jai ho uncle chips ki

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  6. nice stuff! scams like thee seem to operate everywhere around the world. I wonder if there are any such elaborate scams executed in India

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