In a 2009 British court case, judges had to decide whether Pringles were crisps or something else, as this determined whether they were subject to VAT. The company argued they were not potato chips due to their many ingredients, but the Court of Appeal ruled that a hypothetical 8-year-old boy would call them potato chips. Procter & Gamble had to continue paying the tax. Pringles were invented by Fredric J. Baur and the name was chosen from a telephone directory for a catchy street name starting with “P”.
Sometimes, it takes the wisdom of a (hypothetical) child to solve a problem that baffles the best legal minds.
A perfect example was a 2009 British court case in which judges were asked to decide whether Pringles – those salty, hyperbolic paraboloid snacks – are crisps (known as crisps in Britain) or something else entirely.
While it might seem like a nonsensical question, the answer was worth £100 million (then equivalent to $160 million). This was the amount manufacturer Procter & Gamble would have had to pay if Pringles were considered potato chips and therefore subject to 17.5% value added tax (VAT).
The company argued that its treats were made of many ingredients, not just potatoes, and therefore didn’t contain enough “potato” to merit the potato chip label. For the record, Pringles are made up of about 42% potato starch.
The hd case has already made its way through the British judicial system: in 2007, a VAT court ruled that Pringles were in fact crisps; in 2008, the High Court reversed the decision.
Finally, in 2009, the British Court of Appeal took up the case and ruled that the only way to decide was to ask a hypothetical 8-year-old boy what he would call his snack. Needless to say, the imaginary child looked into the problem and decided Pringles were potato chips. Ultimately, Procter & Gamble had to continue paying the tax and the great Pringles debate was over.
Interestingly, Procter & Gamble sold the Pringles brand to Kellogg’s for $2.695 billion in 2012.
Digging into Pringles:
When Pringles inventor May Fredric J. Baur died in 2008, some of his ashes were placed in one of the iconic burial containers.
Procter & Gamble says it chose the name “Pringles” by searching a telephone directory for a catchy street name starting with a “P.”
Pringles go through an intricate manufacturing process that requires them to be rolled onto potato sheet under 4 tons of pressure.
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