Lay's Vending Machine Turns Raw Potatoes Into Bags of Chips - at least so it seems

PepsiCo is combining product sampling with storytelling in Argentina in an unusual vending machine that appears to manufacture Lay's potato chips before your eyes after a real potato, rather than coins, is dropped in a slot.

The Lay's machine, which will make its first appearance in a Buenos Aires supermarket this fall, features an intricate system of tubes, flames and boiling water as the potato is seen going through six distinct steps: washing, peeling, cutting, cooking, salting and finally packaging, ending with a bag of Lay's potato chips popping out of the machine. The process, which looks incredibly real, is actually a video that appears to show the inner workings of potato chip manufacturing.

"We thought this would be a great opportunity to show customers how Lay's are made,"said Alfredo Della Savia, brand manager for salty snacks for PepsiCo ConoSur. "There were rumors Lay's aren't made from real potatoes, and we're trying to fight that, and show we have no secrets -- it's potatoes, oil and salt."

At the store, promoters will hand shoppers real potatoes with stickers inviting them to take the potato and insert it in the Lay's machine by the snack aisle and watch it be made into potato chips, said Nicolas Pimentel, the founder of local shop +Castro and a former exec at BBDO Argentina, which worked on the project led by Mr. Pimentel.

PepsiCo is talking with different retailers the marketer works with in Argentina like Walmart and Carrefour to determine where to place the Lay's machine, which will remain in one supermarket for a week or two before moving to a new location. Mr. Della Savia said the sampling promotion will start in late October or early November.