In America, we have a handful of home grown inventions that we can really be proud of: the lightbulb, the telephone, and Pringles. Not just the chips themselves, mind you, but also the can that made them famous. Yes, the Pringles can is a staple of American culture and has been one of the most important inventions of our time. You can put socks in it, t-shirts, potato chips, and finally someone has done something unconventional with it: they buried their father inside the can.
Frederic J. Bauer, who invented the can and curved potato chip system in 1966, has died at the age of 89. His wish was to be buried in one of those glorious little cans that he invented. His kids decided to go halfway with him and only buried part of his ashes in the can. No word on whether all of his ashes fit or not, but they opted to also bury some of him in an urn. Since they had gone so far as to seperate him into two parts, they went ahead and also put some of him in another urn so his grandson could keep him on the mantle at home.
I just hope this guy’s wish wasnt’ to be buried whole, because his kids definitely didn’t abide by that one! I’m not too interested in keeping dead ashes in my house for years. I saw Meet The Parents, I know what happens when you keep your dead relatives ashes around. I just feel like it might belittle them a tad to be placed in a prominent spot in your home to be gawked at like some kind of decoration. I think I want to be buried in the ground all normal like, where I can soon return to full power and conquer the universe…MWAHAHAHAHA..*cough* excuse me. I don’t know what got into me.
Source: Ananova
Bauer made a great invention for his product, only it wasn’t just for potato chips. The point is that his invention was very important for Pringles but it was still only one part of the process of building that brand. It’s the level of commitment to the product that tells us all we need to know about making a brand fly. At every point and on every level of P&G you can be sure that Bauer’s level of commitment was there…sweating details, thinking about the target market and refining the product and all its brand details!