In the Sun Chips Bag: a Lesson in Marketing Innovation and Demand Generation.

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know Sun Chips is getting out of the eco-bag business? In another high-volume “end of the world as we know it” outcry, the eco-pundits have already massively condemned Frito-Lay, from the local (Lauren Marmaduke, Houston Press) to the national (Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones)

Marmaduke is a blaster: “…the morons at Frito-Lay.” Sheppard’s more balanced: “I don't necessarily blame Frito-Lay. It’s a corporation and its job is to keep customers happy (and make money), so I can forgive them a little timidity on the issue, given that Sun Chips sales were apparently plummeting.”

Let’s take this single paragraph as a guide to seeing where perceived social good and marketing intersect, and what happens then. The Wall Street Journal’s Eric Felten exposes pundits’ contempt for American consumers while defending the market process: “You can add the Sun Chip bags to the pile of eco-virtuous products that consumers found less desirable than the traditional products they replaced.” (This sentence, I believe, is key.)

Felten’s must-read article fairly describes the market process and how it works, when it comes to consumerism. Eco-products have to work better than the items they aim to replace. Or the marketplace will drive them out.

Frito-Lay, like many consumer companies, is superb at introducing new lines: I wrote about its Flat Earth Baked Veggie Chips here. And when these Sun Chips biodegradable bags were introduced, Frito-Lay was a hero yet again. This week, it’s a goat.

To build a Matt Ridley argument, the introduction and marketing of biodegradable Sun Chips packaging with its subsequent glowing praise; the bags’ elimination with its screaming (and one-sided) condemnation; and the company’s pledge to find a more consumer-friendly replacement are all part of “the perpetual innovation machine that drives the modern economy.”

Now will you please stop whining about the damn bags.

Swine Flew

Despite the government’s attempts to rename the Swine Flu strain (a pretty decent approach to calming unneeded panic), there’s a good brand story out there on America’s store shelves that has absolutely nothing to do with this strain of influenza. Except an awful pun.

Last year Frito-Lay introduced a new line, Flat Earth™ snack foods, purposely targeted at women. The up-to-the-minute brand transmits its message this way: These “Impossibly Good™” crisps make it possible to have great taste and nutrition.

The packaging and the advertising, coming out of the brand position, features a winged porker. In case it has to be spelled out for you, the play-phrase is “When pigs fly.”

It’s one of those phrases I’ve always enjoyed, even if its applicability to veggie crisp snacks isn’t immediately obvious…flying pigs, flat earth, etc. On this Frito-Lay line, there’s a reversed-out silhouette of the flying pig on every package. The print advertising I’ve seen, in Better Homes and Gardens, features a cute little Yorkshire with white wings.

The product’s gotten generally positive reviews. Though commentators suspect that giant food producer Frito-Lay may not be putting all its cards on the table health-wise, you can read several reviews for yourself, here and here.

Flat Earth is also one of the sponsors of “Only in a Woman’s World” – another involving example of how to niche-market via the worldwide web. In fact, Frito-Lay has constructed a good 360° brand effort in these veggie crisps. It’s marketing to a group of consumers that’s sensitive about health and better eating habits.

Typically, this tranche doesn’t include Paris Hilton. Asked about the virus by its common name, she’s already commented, “I don’t eat that.” She’ll probably achieve understanding when pigs fly; I trust you’ll get the title pun sooner.