Squares (crisps)

Brand of snack food

Squares

Product type| Crisp
Owner| Walkers
Country| United Kingdom
Related brands| French Fries
Quavers
Wotsits
Markets| United Kingdom
Previous owners| The Smith's Snackfood Company

Squares formerly known as Square and Square Crisps are a British brand of square-shaped crisps made by Walkers, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. They were originally made by The Smith's Snackfood Company.

## History

[edit]

The crisps have been around since at least the 1980s and went under the name of Square Crisps.[1] Several of their advertisements featured the comedian Lenny Henry and were marketed with slogans such as "more of a crunch than a crisp" and "the crisp that isn't a crisp".[2] Following PepsiCo's acquisition of both Walkers and Smiths in 1989[3] Square Crisps were renamed to simply Square, and labelled as potato snacks.

The product remained under the Smiths brand years after its fellow products Quavers and Monster Munch were moved to the Walkers brand. In January 2001, Walkers announced to relaunch Square, and would transition it from the Smiths brand to the Walkers brand.[4] The name of the crisps was changed to Squares shortly afterward.[5]

### Design

[edit]

The design of Squares packets have changed several times.[6] The design during the 1980s emphasised that they had 25% lower fat than regular crisps and the packaging of the salt and vinegar Squares was a much lighter shade of blue than what is currently used.[7] During the 1990s and early 2000s, the most noticeable change apart from the change in company and name was the addition of a jagged border around the logo.[8] In the late 2000s, the logo and design of Squares was briefly changed again.[9] In the 2010s a new design for Squares was introduced which took aspects from other designs and is similar to the current design introduced in 2019 except for the jagged border and squares pattern.[10] The colours of the crisps packets differ from Walkers traditional colours, with the salt & vinegar packets being blue instead of green and the cheese & onion packets being green instead of blue.[11]

## Overview

[edit]

They are produced in three flavours: salt & vinegar, ready salted, and cheese & onion.[12] They are also available in multipacks, with salt & vinegar flavoured Squares being the most popular.[13] Comedian Richard Osman wrote in The World Cup of Everything that Squares were invented because "scientists were concerned that children weren't hurting the roofs of their mouths as often as they should be".[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^
* "Smiths Square Crisps - Lenny Henry (1981)". BFI. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
* "Smiths Square Crisps (UK ad) 1980s". YouTube. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
2. ^
* "CLASSIC 80S UK FOOD ADS". Retromash. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
* "Smiths Square Crisps-Pig (1985 UK)". Dailymotion. 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
3. ^ "Crunch Time: Britain's Crisp Wars". Let's Look Again. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
4. ^ "Walkers turns rather Square".
5. ^
* Food Trades Directory of the UK & Europe Volume 1. United Kingdom: Newman Books. 1997.
* The Strategy Process. United Kingdom: Prentice Hall. 1995. ISBN 9780131496262.
* The European Directory of Consumer Brands and Their Owners. United Kingdom: EUROMONITOR PLC. 1992. ISBN 9780863384653.
6. ^ "You Won't Believe How The Packaging Has Changed On Your Favourite Snacks". 80s Kids. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
7. ^
* "Old Food from the 80s - Snacks - Crisps". Pinterest. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Smiths Square Crisps Feb 89 Front". Pinterest. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "1970s UK Smith's Magazine Advert - Image ID: EXPKTW". Alarmy. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
8. ^
* "Walkers Square Potato Snacks Ready Salted". taquitos.net. May 2002. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Squares Cheese & Onion 27.5g – 6/2/2021". Treats From Home. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Cheese & Onion Square Crisps". Taylor's Croft. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
9. ^
* "Walker's Squares – Cheese and Onion Flavour (2009)". versluis.com. 21 June 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Salt and Vinegar Crisps - Image ID: B002H8". Alarmy. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Cheese and Onion Crisps - Image ID: B002HA". Alarmy. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
10. ^
* "Walkers Square Crisps | Walkers Snacks". Walkers Snacks. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Walkers Squares salt and vinegar flavour crisps stock photo". iStock. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
* "Walkers Squares Crunchy Salt & Vinegar Potato Snack - UK Snack Tasting Series". YouTube. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
11. ^
* "The Walkers Crisps Conspiracy That Has People Convinced We're in an Alternate Reality". VICE. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
* @walkers_crisps (19 June 2020). "Hi Dave, before Walkers made Squares they were produced by Smiths. They always put their Salt & Vinegar in blue packs, we decided not to change it and have stuck with it ever since" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via Twitter.
* @walkers_crisps (16 December 2019). "Hey, Waving hand Salt & Vinegar Squares packs were blue before they became part of our Walkers range, so we've left the pack colours as they were. Slightly smiling face" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 September 2021 – via Twitter.
12. ^
* "Squares 6 Pack". Walkers. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
* "10 Iconic British Crisps And Crispy Savory Snacks You'll Want To Try". BBC America. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
13. ^ "The nation's best loved crisps revealed, according to new survey Does your favourite make the list?". Prima. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
14. ^ Osman, Richard (2017). The World Cup Of Everything: Bringing the Fun Home. United Kingdom: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781473667280.

## External links

[edit]

* Squares at Walkers

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