Orange-stained fingers around the world were clenched in grief last week, when the legendary marketing man credited with the creation of Doritos passed away. But take heart, snack fans; Arch West is taking his cheese powder-infused tortilla chips with him on his eternal journey.
That’s right, West is being buried with Doritos.
A marketing executive during the Mad Men days, Arch West took a chance on an odd little chip he discovered being made in a little shack near San Diego, California. The then marketing vice president for Frito Co. (soon to merge with H.W. Lay & Co. to form Frito-Lay) had trouble getting the idea of a mass marketing tortilla chip past his superiors, so he got together some money from his budget and did a little research and development on the sly. Doritos hit the market in 1964.
The result was a multi-million dollar product for Frito-Lay and one of the most recognised snack foods on the planet, with 23 flavours currently available in the US alone. Doritos are almost synonymous with snacking, often paired with Mountain Dew as the preferred food and drink pairing of geek culture.
Arch West will be laid to rest on Saturday, October 1, at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas. His urn will be placed in a grave, and then the flavour happens.
“We are tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn,” said his daughter, Jana Hacker of Allen. “He’ll love it.”
Rest in pieces of flavoured corn chip, Mr West.
Arch West, retired Frito-Lay marketing man behind Doritos, dies at 97 [Dallas Morning News]
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