• Fred Baur, the inventor of the Pringles can, was so proud of his design that he asked to be buried in one.
• Baur’s request inspired Pringles’ Halloween promotion, “Once You Drop.”

While it might seem obvious now, a cylindrical container for storing stacks of chips was so innovative in the 1960s that inventor Fred Baur was granted a patent for his design.

Procter & Gamble, owners of the Pringles brand until 2012, quickly put Baur’s inventive packaging to work. Unlike a conventional bag, the cylinder kept Pringles chips mostly intact and protected them from air and moisture, keeping the hyperbolic-paraboloid-shaped morsels crisp and fresh.

Baur invented other things for P&G, like freeze-dried ice cream, but his proudest achievement was the Pringles can, so much so that he asked his family to bury him in one. In 2008, after succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease, Baur’s loved ones honored the request, putting some of his ashes in a Pringles tube and burying it alongside a regular urn.

Pringles ’ Halloween promotion is inspired by Baur’s final wish to be buried in the iconic bit of packaging of creation. Called “Once You Drop,” a riff on Pringles’ “Once You Pop” tagline, the promotion invites fans to enter to win a unique urn to be buried in and an “after lifetime” supply of Pringles, enough for you while alive and another stash to pass on to a loved one.

Fans must sign a “Last Will and Taste-Ament” stating that they want their remains stored in the Pringles urn upon their death, and placed in an appropriate final resting place, like a burial plot, memorial garden, or private location, so long as it’s not the pantry.

The official rules state that the will isn’t legally binding, so if you win and regret it later, or your family doesn’t share your sense of humor and is unlikely to carry out this final wish, you still get to keep the prize. Also, Pringles won’t ship you 200 years’ worth of actual Pringles, so you get $28,080 instead.

The urn is made of precious metal and shaped as a conventional Pringles can. The Pringles mascot also has Xs for eyes, cobwebs adorn the front corners, and it reads “Once You Drop” above a stack of falling chips.

BBDO New York’s launch film features TikTok mortuary influencer (why am I surprised that’s a thing?) DanTheFuneralMan as part of the promotion.

“Pringles has always been about the joy of the unexpected, and this campaign takes our ‘Once You Drop’ campaign tagline literally: the pop don’t stop, not even once fans ‘drop,’” said Mauricio Jenkins, salty snacks brand & content lead, Mars Snacking North America, in a press release. “Leaning into Halloween’s dark humor and Gen Z’s taste for absurdist storytelling, we’re putting Pringles on the salty side of Halloween and rewarding the ultimate fan in the most lasting way possible — by making the Pringles can part of their legacy.”

If the idea of being buried in a Pringles can, like its inventor or perhaps a small pet, appeals to you, you have until October 22nd to enter and sign the will to win at OnceYouDrop.com.