The man on the can has a name you won't forget. Here's the surprising history behind the iconic Pringles man.
Who Is the Pringles Man? The History Behind Pringles’s Mascot
Updated on Apr. 28, 2025
There’s just something so satisfying about sliding your hand into that long and lean Pringles can for a chip. No matter which popular Pringles flavor you grab (there’s honey mustard, barbecue and even dill pickle, but we’re partial to original Pringles), you’ll see the iconic man with the mustache on the can. But who is this guy? There’s a story behind the Pringles man, and we’re here to introduce you to him formally.
Over the past 50-something years, Pringles has not only given us an irresistible crisp (that’s right— Pringles aren’t actually chips) but also a mascot and a logo that continues to captivate design students and consumers alike, even after five long decades. Read on to learn how the Pringles logo has changed since it first launched in 1967 and find out whether the Pringles man actually ever had bad eyesight. Trust us: You’re in for a surprise.
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How old is the Pringles logo?
Technically speaking, the Pringles logo is 58 years old—the company first started selling Pringles in 1967. However, the latest Pringles logo, which has a more stylized red, black and white design, has been around for only four years.
What is the Pringles man called?
The face you see every time you pick up a signature Pringles can belongs to Julius Pringles. Well, it has since 2013. That’s when the nameless man from the logo officially earned a name. But unofficially, the Pringles guy got his name years before that.
When did the Pringles man get his name?
According to a 2022 report by the Guardian, two young college students gave the Pringles mascot a name in 2006 in an unofficial and seemingly harmless edit to the Pringles’s Wikipedia page after they realized he didn’t have a name. This tiny edit—made on the platform famous for misinformation—stuck around for many years and gained notable traction among consumers and the company alike.
Eventually, the company officially adopted the name. Kellogg’s bought Pringles in 2012, and by 2013, it had trademarked both Julius Pringles and Mr. P.
How has the Pringles logo evolved over the years?
Looking at a photo posted in 2014 by Pringles’s official X (at the time, Twitter) account, we know that the Pringles man has been part of the tube can packaging since the product first hit the shelves in 1967. While embodying many looks over the years, Julius Pringles has always sported a recognizable handlebar mustache that, if you look closely enough, resembles two Pringles crisps put together.
While there are some consistencies across the seven major logo revamps since the product first launched, there are also noticeable changes to the Pringles logo that each reiteration brought. Here’s what was different with each Pringles rebranding:
- 1967–1985: When Julius Pringle was born, he had a plump mustache, straight-at-you eyes and mid-parted hair, all in brown. He was cute, thanks to the red blush on his cheek. The product name proudly appeared inside his black bowtie. In 1979, there was a minor tweak that lasted about four years; the eyes were lighter, and the Pringles man got a small smile.
- 1986–1995: By the time the 1986 logo was revealed, a rounder Mr. Pringles had grown eyebrows and lost what we suspect to be his shirt collars. His eyes were cartoonized a step further into two black dots (still staring right at you and probably tempting you to pick that can up!). Notably, the brand name also ditched the apostrophe.
- 1996–2001: Mr. P’s rosy cheeks disappeared in the 1990s, and so did his mouth. However, he still appeared smilingly—probably because his tilted face resembled an oval Pringles crisp again. In this version, the text was brighter too.
- 2002–2008: You likely know the 2000s logo best; it’s a classic use of red and yellow in a logo. You can see the name Pringles (along with its capitalization) was dropped from the bowtie, and Julius Pringles was given a more stylish red one. He gained floppier brown hair atop his round head.
- 2009–2019: If you look closely, you can see the i dotted with a chip in the 2009 logo. More obvious changes include the dropping of the red background that had characterized the early 2000s version.
- 2020: The Pringles man gained back his eyebrows in this redesign! But let’s talk about the obvious: He not only lost his hair but the outline of his face too. His mustache and eyes changed to a solid black, ditching some of the realism from the early 2000s. Still, Julius Pringles’s eyebrows were even more expressive, and the bowtie looked a bit sharper.
What does the Pringles man look like today?
The newest Pringles logo was revealed in 2021. Designers from the same agency that created popular brand logos for Burger King and Dunkin’—Jones Knowles Ritchie—tried to, they said, “[elevate] the much-loved and distinctive mascot, referencing elements from the past whilst focusing on making the icon fit for the future to connect with consumers today.” This vision now has the Pringle man wearing a bigger red bowtie—with the Pringles text inside in white.
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Today, the man on the Pringles logo appears with some fascinating variations across the globe.
- In the U.S., the Harvest Blend cans feature a rather content facial expression on the Pringle man’s face.
- In countries like the U.S., U.K., France and Belgium, the Hot or Scorchin’ line features a wincing Julius Pringles on a flaming background to suggest the crisps are extra spicy.
- In Mexico, the Picantes line features the Pringles man with his 2009 brown mustache and hair.
If you’re concerned about the taste of your Pringles because of the visual variations and logo changes, have no fear. Pringles still taste exactly the way they always have, and that’s just plain delicious.
FAQs
Did the Pringles man ever have a monocle?
Nope! Throughout Pringles’s logo history, the man on the can never had a monocle. In fact, this common misconception is a clear example of the Mandela effect, a psychological phenomenon in which “a group of people collectively misremember facts, events or other details,” according to Britannica.
It seems the memories of the Pringles man’s monocle are powered by the same collective psyche that believed Mr. Monopoly—the mascot for the classic board game Monopoly—also wore a monocle. News flash: He never did.
Who created Pringles?
There are two notable players in the history of Pringles. First, we have the man behind the iconic Pringles container: chemist and food technician Fredric Baur, who created the cylinder-shaped can after tirelessly experimenting with storage that would stop chips from breaking. But did he design the actual Pringle man? There’s no evidence to support or refute this claim.
Enter Alexander Liepa. He brought the lip-smacking flavor to the crisps, and his is the name that appears on the Pringles patent.
Is the guy who invented Pringles really buried in a Pringles can?
Fredric Baur, the man behind the inventive tubular Pringles cans, was indeed buried in a Pringles can in 2008. In an interview with Time, Baur’s son, Larry, confirmed that his father’s ashes were put in an original-flavor Pringles can, as he had wished.
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Sources:
- The Guardian: “TechScape: When Wikipedia fiction becomes real life fact”
- Pringles: “FAQ: All About Pringles”
- Pringles X: “When Did You First Get a Fever for the Flavor?”
- Jones Knowles Ritchie Instagram: “Pringles Rebrand”
- Pringles U.S.: “Scorchin’ Crisps”
- Pringles U.K.: “Pringles Hot”
- Pringles France: “Pringles Hot”
- Pringles Belgium: “Pringles Hot”
- Britannica: “Mandela Effect”
