5 ms·

That’s where the first R comes in. Only buy as many Pringles cans as you can reuse. People don’t want to do that either, though, because Pringles are addictive.

That’s where the first R comes in. Only buy as many Pringles cans as you can reuse. People don’t want to do that either, though, because Pringles are addictive. That may be the root problem. There’s no way they’ll sell Pringles in bags though; they’re way too delicate for anything but a purpose-built rigid container.

masklinn 6y ago
> That’s where the first R comes in. Only buy as many Pringles cans as you can reuse. People don’t want to do that either, though, because Pringles are addictive. That may be the root problem. The first R is already not an option, people who buy pringles want pringles, otherwise they wouldn’t be buying that. Short of making pringles illegal you’re not going to change this. > There’s no way they’ll sell Pringles in bags though; they’re way too delicate for anything but a purpose-built rigid container. Pringles were literally invented because potato chips were too fragile at a time when shipping bags of chips and having them survive the transit was basically a bad bet. Chips remain sold in bags to this day.
- userbinator 6y ago
  Chips remain sold in bags to this day. Chips which are much thicker than Pringles.
  - masklinn 6y ago
    No.
pessimizer 6y ago
> Only buy as many Pringles cans as you can reuse. So about six cans of Pringles per lifetime?
- chongli 6y ago
  No, they wear out eventually and need replacing.
  - Spare_account 6y ago
    Which is where the featured article is relevant
cogburnd02 6y ago
> a purpose-built rigid container. Why not Al cans?
- nickff 6y ago
  It's probably a cost & manufacturing issue; I would guess that a draw that long is physically difficult to perform. It may be practical for something 1/2 or 1/3 the length of the pringles can.
  - korethr 6y ago
    I agree that it's probably a manufacturing cost issue, but I disagree that a draw that long is necessarily difficult to perform. One can buy extruded aluminum in various shapes, in very thin wall thicknesses, in lengths measured in meters or more. At a previous job, I semi-regularly worked with aluminum angle with about about 1mm wall thickness, several feet long. And note that the length of a typical energy drink is something like 2/3 of the length of a Pringles can. Now, I doubt an aluminum Pringles can would need 1mm wall thickness for sufficient strength to deal with the usual rigors of being handled by a minimum wage shipping or shelf-stocking employee. However, I will concede that something with say, the typical .01-.02 wall thickness of a soda/beer can may be harder to produce with a workflow of cutting can-lengths from a large piece of extruded stock. Depending on how the stock was cut, you risk crushing it. At that thickness, you'd do better to stamp the final can size & shape from crude blanks. Now, at high enough volume, it could be worth it to in-house the can-stamping operation; beer companies are an example. I could see Pringles having enough volume to justify in-house production of their cans. But I don't think a .01-.02 wall thickness would be enough for a Pringles can. Yes, soda cans are strong enough to endure shipping and handling, but most of that strength comes from the fact that their contents are under pressure; significantly moreso than a pringles can, I'd bet. Witness how easy it becomes to crush a soda can once it is opened, even when it is still partially full. So .01-02mm wouldn't do. I'd guess .1-2mm would, however. But at a 10x wall thickness you're using 10x the material if my math is right, so an all-aluminum Pringles can with a .1mm wall thickness would cost at least 10x to produce as a soda can of equal length. So yeah, manufacturing cost issue is probably at least one factor. But I'm willing to be wrong about that.
WalterBright 6y ago
> Pringles are addictive Pringles have nothing on Doritos.
- ethbr0 6y ago
  Structural integrity?

masklinn 6y ago

> That’s where the first R comes in. Only buy as many Pringles cans as you can reuse. People don’t want to do that either, though, because Pringles are addictive. That may be the root problem. The first R is already not an option, people who buy pringles want pringles, otherwise they wouldn’t be buying that. Short of making pringles illegal you’re not going to change this. > There’s no way they’ll sell Pringles in bags though; they’re way too delicate for anything but a purpose-built rigid container. Pringles were literally invented because potato chips were too fragile at a time when shipping bags of chips and having them survive the transit was basically a bad bet. Chips remain sold in bags to this day.

userbinator 6y ago
Chips remain sold in bags to this day. Chips which are much thicker than Pringles.
- masklinn 6y ago
  No.

pessimizer 6y ago

> Only buy as many Pringles cans as you can reuse. So about six cans of Pringles per lifetime?

chongli 6y ago
No, they wear out eventually and need replacing.
- Spare_account 6y ago
  Which is where the featured article is relevant

cogburnd02 6y ago

> a purpose-built rigid container. Why not Al cans?

nickff 6y ago
It's probably a cost & manufacturing issue; I would guess that a draw that long is physically difficult to perform. It may be practical for something 1/2 or 1/3 the length of the pringles can.
- korethr 6y ago
  I agree that it's probably a manufacturing cost issue, but I disagree that a draw that long is necessarily difficult to perform. One can buy extruded aluminum in various shapes, in very thin wall thicknesses, in lengths measured in meters or more. At a previous job, I semi-regularly worked with aluminum angle with about about 1mm wall thickness, several feet long. And note that the length of a typical energy drink is something like 2/3 of the length of a Pringles can. Now, I doubt an aluminum Pringles can would need 1mm wall thickness for sufficient strength to deal with the usual rigors of being handled by a minimum wage shipping or shelf-stocking employee. However, I will concede that something with say, the typical .01-.02 wall thickness of a soda/beer can may be harder to produce with a workflow of cutting can-lengths from a large piece of extruded stock. Depending on how the stock was cut, you risk crushing it. At that thickness, you'd do better to stamp the final can size & shape from crude blanks. Now, at high enough volume, it could be worth it to in-house the can-stamping operation; beer companies are an example. I could see Pringles having enough volume to justify in-house production of their cans. But I don't think a .01-.02 wall thickness would be enough for a Pringles can. Yes, soda cans are strong enough to endure shipping and handling, but most of that strength comes from the fact that their contents are under pressure; significantly moreso than a pringles can, I'd bet. Witness how easy it becomes to crush a soda can once it is opened, even when it is still partially full. So .01-02mm wouldn't do. I'd guess .1-2mm would, however. But at a 10x wall thickness you're using 10x the material if my math is right, so an all-aluminum Pringles can with a .1mm wall thickness would cost at least 10x to produce as a soda can of equal length. So yeah, manufacturing cost issue is probably at least one factor. But I'm willing to be wrong about that.

WalterBright 6y ago

> Pringles are addictive Pringles have nothing on Doritos.

ethbr0 6y ago
Structural integrity?