references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . november 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message product type potato chips owner pepsico country united states introduced 1932 ; 84 years ago 1932 related brands frito lay wavy lays k.c. masterpiece lay s wow chips lay s stax walkers snack foods markets world previous owners 1932 1961 lays 1961 1965 frito lay inc. 1965 pepsico inc. website official website lay s is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the u.s. in 1932 . lay s has been owned by pepsico since 1965 . lay s is the company s primary brand with the exception of limited markets where other brands are utilized walkers in the united kingdom and ireland smith s in australia chipsy 1 in egypt poca in vietnam tapuchips in israel 2 margarita in colombia sabritas in mexico and formerly hostess in canada . contents 1 history 2 international 3 flavors 3.1 north america 3.2 europe 3.3 asia 3.4 africa 4 nutritional information 5 references 6 external links history edit in 1932 salesman herman lay opened a snack food operation in dorset ohio ; and in 1938 he purchased the atlanta georgia potato chip manufacturer barrett food company renaming it h.w. lay lingo & company . lay criss crossed the southern united states selling the product from the trunk of his car . the business shortened its name to the lay s lay lingo company in 1944 and became the first snack food manufacturer to purchase television commercials with bert lahr as a celebrity spokesman . 3 in 1961 the frito company founded by derrick lothert and lay s merged to form frito lay inc. a snack food giant with combined sales of over 127 million annually the largest of any manufacturer . shortly thereafter lays introduced its best known slogan betcha can t eat just one . sales of the chips became international with marketing assisted by a number of celebrity endorsers . in 1965 frito lay merged with the pepsi cola company to form pepsico inc. a new formulation of chip was introduced in 1991 that was crisper and kept fresher longer . shortly thereafter the company introduced the wavy lays products to grocery shelves . in the mid to late 1990s lay s introduced a lower calorie baked version and a variety that was completely fat free lay s wow chips containing the fat substitute olestra . in the 2000s kettle cooked brands appeared as did a processed version called lay s stax that was intended to compete with pringles and the company began introducing a variety of additional flavor variations . frito lay products currently control 59 % of the united states savory snack food market . 4 international edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message in argentina lays was commercialized before 2001 with the name frenchitas and chizitos for the cheetos . in australia pepsico acquired the smith s snackfood company in 1998 and marketed frito lay products under that label using the name thins . after thin s was sold to snack brands australia owned by arnotts smith s produced a line of potato chips under the lay s brand for a brief period of time . the lay s line was eventually rebranded in 2004 as smith s crisps while the traditional smith s line was renamed smith s crinkles . this is still sold in australia as a direct competitor to smith s crisps . in the benelux lay s are sold in three varieties lay s lay s light and lay s sensations thai sweet chili red paprika oven roasted chicken and thyme . lay s super chips heinz ketchup mexican pepper perfect pickles salt n pepper all through delhaize and lay s baked chips mediterranean herbs through delhaize . as with doritos lay s are manufactured distributed and imported in the netherlands by frito lay s benelux division smith s food group . lay s used to be called smiths in the netherlands until the name was changed in 2001 . in brazil products are distributed under the elma chips label . in colombia the chips are sold under the name margarita . they are still commercialized under the label lay s however . in egypt lay s was once sold under its own label until it was merged with the local label chipsy which has since become the local unit of lay s under much the same arrangement as walkers . in india cricketer mahendra singh dhoni and bollywood actors saif ali khan and ranbir kapoor endorse lays . in indonesia lay s products are distributed by indofood . 5 in iran lay s products are distributed as sensation by mazmaz . in israel the lay s label is distributed with the name tapuchips by strauss elite . in italy lay s are distributed in by ferrero spa since 2014 . in mexico pepsico acquired sabritas s. de r.l. in 1966 . lay s along with other products such as cheetos fritos doritos and ruffles are marketed under the sabritas brand . the logo for the mexican company sports the red ribbon but it has a stylized smiling face instead of the sun . it controls around 80 % of the market there . in pakistan the lays brand is endorsed by renowned pop star ali zafar . lays has also introduced two new flavors dahi baray and mint chutney in pakistan with a campaign of chaat street in south africa lay s are distributed by the simba chip company since 1998 . 6 in united arab emirates lay s and walkers are sold as different labels . in the uk lay s is known as walkers . walkers flavors include cheese & onion ready salted salt & vinegar . walkers also makes sensations branded crisps in the uk . the logo used by lay s and walkers is noticeably similar featuring a red ribbon around a yellow sun ; it derives from the walkers logo used in 1990 . the other frito lay brands are also distributed through the walkers label . in vietnam lay s products are distributed as poca . flavors edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message north america edit lay s barbecue flavored potato chips which appeared in 1958 was the only flavor available in the united states other than the conventional salted chip until the introduction of sour cream & onion in the late 1970s . in the united states lay s offers a number of flavor combinations in addition to the classic chips . flavored products in the traditional fried varieties include sour cream & onion barbecue cheddar & sour cream hidden valley ranch salt & pepper flamin hot lim n and a thicker deli style chip . the wow brand was rebranded in 2004 as lay s light after the olestra formula was altered and the u.s. food and drug administration allowed removal of warnings about various health consequences of the fat substitute . other potato chip flavors offered by lay s are garden tomato and basil honey barbecue sweet southern heat barbecue tapatio limon simply sea salt thick cut and dill pickle brand only found in arizona arkansas georgia south carolina pennsylvania utah wisconsin and minnesota . lay s has occasionally solicited new flavor ideas through its do us a flavor promotions . the 2013 contest produced three new flavors sriracha chicken and waffles and cheesy garlic bread . cheesy garlic bread was chosen as the winner and was added to the lineup however the other flavors remain on sale in some regions . another round of do us a flavor was launched in 2014 . the flavors include cheddar bacon mac & cheese kettle cooked wasabi ginger wavy mango salsa and cappuccino . kettle cooked wasabi ginger was chosen as the winner . the 2015 finalists include kettle cooked greektown gyro new york reuben southern biscuits & gravy and wavy west coast truffle fries . southern biscuits & gravy was crowned the winner . the 2016 do us a flavor was rebranded passport to flavor for the 2016 summer olympics . the four finalists are chinese szechuan chicken greek tzatziki brazilian picanha and indian tikka masala . the following lay s flavors are available nationally in canada classic lightly salted wavy original dill pickle bbq ketchup salt & vinegar smoky bacon sea salt & pepper and cheddar & sour cream . there are also a number of regional flavors including fries & gravy and roast chicken available in atlantic canada sour cream & onion available in ontario atlantic canada and western canada and wavy smoky bbq and wavy old fashioned ketchup available in western canada . other varieties available nationally include baked lay s lay s kettle cooked and lay s stax . in 2013 lay s ran a do us a flavour contest in canada with four flavors chosen as finalists creamy garlic caesar perogy platter grilled cheese & ketchup and maple moose . maple moose was chosen as the winner but discontinued in february 2014 due to low sales . 7 in 2014 lay s ran a second do us a flavour contest in canada with a new batch of finalists bacon poutine cinnamon bun jalape o mac n cheese and tzatziki . 8 jalape o mac n cheese was chosen as the winner . 9 in 2015 lay s ran their third do us a flavour contest in canada with four new flavors chosen as finalists cowboy bbq beans butter chicken montreal smoked meat and pei scalloped potatoes . 10 the winning flavour was pei scalloped potatoes . the following lay s called sabritas are available nationally in mexico original ruffles tostitos doritos cheetos pake taxo japoneses peanuts cheetos poffets rancheritos adobados frit os churrumais caseras sabritones crujitos and chicharr n cl sico . europe edit parts of this article those related to uk do us a flavour 2014 need to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . august 2015 there are a number of unique products in the united kingdom which are sold under the walkers label including salt & vinegar cheese & onion smokey bacon prawn cocktail pickled onion beef & onion and marmite . walkers also ran a do us a flavour promotion that the public vote for the flavor they like the best . flavors included in the 2010 promotion were spanish chicken paella japanese teriyaki chicken german bratwurst sausage italian spaghetti bolognese french garlic baguette american cheeseburger brazilian salsa scottish haggis irish stew english roast beef and yorkshire pudding dutch edam cheese australian bbq kangaroo south african sweet chutney argentinian flame grilled steak and welsh rarebit . the previous winner of this promotion was builders breakfast . current 2014 competition flavor choices include chip shop chicken curry pulled pork in sticky bbq sauce sizzling steak fajita cheesy beans on toast hotdog with tomato ketchup and ranch raccoon voting was open until 17 october 2014 . pulled pork in sticky bbq sauce won with the winning suggestion receiving a 1 000 000 prize . in france about eight varieties of potato chips are marketed in a number of flavors for a total of approximately thirty products . in greece and cyprus lay s are made and packed by tasty foods and corina snacks ltd with mediterranean flavors which include feta cheese flavor tzatziki olive and tomato oregano sea