Tayto: Where did it all go wrong? Discuss.

Can it be that life was oh so simple then..................memories like the corner of my mind, misty golden coloured memories of the way we were...
 
The_Banker said:
The reason Tayto has fallen behind in the crisp market is because in the last 10 years Ireland has been flooded with new brands, especially Walkers.
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There's no doubt, Walkers' advertising campaigns have been excellent (Lineker, Gazza, Keane, etc) and inevitably have paid off, especially with the younger market. I still think, though, that there was such an affinity for Tayto in Ireland that older customers would have stayed loyal if they had retained the flavour that made us love them in the first place - and older customers are the Mammies and Daddies who do the shopping! We had a 12 pack (or 16??) of Tayto a couple of months ago and we threw most of them out, they were dire. Maybe 'tragedy' is a little strong, but it's a tragedy!!
 
I remember going on a school trip to London in the early 80's and asking a shop assistant for Tayto's. She looked at me as if I had 10 heads... There were at least 5 brands of crisps behind the counter (none of which were Tayto) but Tayto was such a strong brand here in Ireland that I just called all crisps Tayto and couldn't understand why the shop assistant wouldn't just hand me the crisps. Eventually she twigged when I pointed at the crisps but she must have assumed I was strange. I heard her asking another woman in the shop "What are Tay Toe?"
Happy Days
 
I was almost tempted to buy a packet of cheese and onion tayto at lunchtime but instead opted for sour cream & onion hunky dorys - so much nicer!
 
The_Banker said:
I remember going on a school trip to London in the early 80's and asking a shop assistant for Tayto's. She looked at me as if I had 10 heads... There were at least 5 brands of crisps behind the counter (none of which were Tayto) but Tayto was such a strong brand here in Ireland that I just called all crisps Tayto and couldn't understand why the shop assistant wouldn't just hand me the crisps. Eventually she twigged when I pointed at the crisps but she must have assumed I was strange. I heard her asking another woman in the shop "What are Tay Toe?"
Happy Days
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I think that's a country thing. I never heard anyone refer to all crisps as taytos until I was on holiday in Galway when I was 15! I found it very funny when some bloke in a shop was asking for "taytos in the tube", i.e. pringles!
 
Cahir said:
I think that's a country thing. I never heard anyone refer to all crisps as taytos until I was on holiday in Galway when I was 15! I found it very funny when some bloke in a shop was asking for "taytos in the tube", i.e. pringles!
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I am in Cork City and we always asked for "a bag of taytos" as kids and we meant crisps. I remember getting a different brand once and thinking the tayto had change their packet!!!
The tayto Advertisment with Murachu McTayto sticks in my mind. As does the Pete Peanut Ad where the Peanut is a walking, talking cowboy or Sheriff and he finishes the Ad with the following words in a cowboy drawl "Don't never go nowhere without your Petes Peanuts"

Pete Peanut and Steve Silvermint were my hero's before I discovered girls!!!
 
Bushfire said:
:D Crackin' up! My 'party' piece was to hold a Tayto bag over the fire and shrink it in to a mini Tayto packet with the heat :eek:
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Yeah, did that too...It was mad the way the little Tayto fella would stay perfectly intact but just shrink smaller and smaller until the thing took to flames.....Anyway, if that was your party piece it's no wonder you're now called Bushfire ;)
 
Cahir said:
I think that's a country thing. I never heard anyone refer to all crisps as taytos until I was on holiday in Galway when I was 15! I found it very funny when some bloke in a shop was asking for "taytos in the tube", i.e. pringles!
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I think it's more of an "outside Dublin" thing, rather than a country thing.
We (Dubliners) never called crisps Taytos, unless they were Taytos that is !
 
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are tayto northern ireland not seperate? dont think they were part of the largo foods deal. will check it out when I am down in newry someday soon.
 
r2d2 said:
Yeah, did that too...It was mad the way the little Tayto fella would stay perfectly intact but just shrink smaller and smaller until the thing took to flames..... ;)
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Exactly!!!! :D And if a corner of his head was a little too big you just held him over the fire for a split second and - voila! The Big challenge was to get the bag as tiny as possible, and if you mucked up you just had to eat another bag so you'd have another chance. No wonder I was a chubby child :eek:
 
mmmm...tayto yum yum.

Have to say i havent really noticed a difference only with the packaging.

Somwtimes you get real flavoured, fresh crisps that are lovely but other times ive gotton rotton aul hard yokes.

I dont like walkers not enough flavour on them. King is ok but allways buy TAYTO.

:p
 
daithi said:
I had a pack today and they tasted just fine to me..
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Will give them another go, haven't bought any for a few weeks, no wonder their share of the market is dropping, I used to buy a near endless supply of them. Not hopeful though.
 
Fond memories of goin' to beach as a kid and no better taste than a pack of Tayto made from new potatoes. The sand and the fact that running around most of the day probably added to the flavour.
 
I never buy Walkers or Pringles as they contain MSG, a flavour enhancer which is banned in numerous countries. It causes me to have an asthma attack and sometimes an itchy rash. Love the taste of Pringles though.
 
Crisps must be about the most unhealthy snack food you can eat.
No doubt advertising pressure will increase to ban such foods.
I read recently that Gary Lineker donates his fees back to charity.

Talking about heroes, where is Jim Figgerty?
 
I am a Dub born and bred and my Dad always referred to all crisps as "Taytos". We used to love Farmer Browns crisps and when he went to the shop, my dad always came back with Tayto. But da, we asked you to get Farmer Browns. Well, thats what I asked for, two packets of Farmer Browns Tayto.

Some of the other neighbours called them packets of crips.
 
When I was growing up crisps were rated:

No1 Tayto
No2 Smiths
No3 Peri (often these were green and pretty horrible looking)
 
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