Pringles Spider: Chip company launches petition to have insect named after them

Pringles wants to rename a spider for its uncanny resemblance to the company's mascot. The brand informed its followers about the idea in a tweet last month that said:

"Meet the Pringles Spider, a real spider with the Pringles face on its back."

The brand has also filed a petition for the same. The petition has already received over three thousand signatures to this date.

Moreover, the snack maker has requested the "arachnid community" to officially recognize the change.

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Pringles has sent its petition to numerous Arachnology institutes

The spider in question is known as the Kidney Garden Spider (scientific name Araneus mitificus), according to the animal website Jungle Dragon. The crawler is green in color and has a black kidney-like marking on its back.

Due to its unique pattern, the spider's body looks similar to the company's mascot "Julius," which intrigued the Kellogg's-owned brand to demand a name change.

Mauricio Jenkins, the US marketing lead for the company, said in a press release:

"In 1968 the world was introduced to our iconic can and logo, but little did we know there was a creature amongst us who was unknowingly spreading the Pringles love."

The company also posted a video on its Instagram account, where they joked about a probable future advertisement if they succeed with their petition. The video talked about making the spider a brand mascot and shared:

"Meet the world's first brand spider, the Pringles Spider. The spider is the perfect ad because it can reach people where other ads can't. It's the ultimate out-of-home advertising innovation... but in homes too."

The video showed people getting startled as they found the insect around their homes. The video continued with :

"We're working on getting them everywhere."

It also showed the arthropod in different locations around the world, with one person sharing an interview about spotting them. The advertisement continued by listing all their possible ads in the future, by claiming:

"But what else? Instagram, gaming, sponsorships, music videos, merchandise, movie cameos – the sky's the limit."

In hopes of succeeding in their quest, the chips brand has sent the petition to multiple spider-related organizations, including the International Society of Arachnology, European Society of Arachnology, American Arachnological Society, Arachnologische Gesellschaft, Association Française d'Arachnologie, British Arachnological Society, S.E.A., Asian Society of Arachnology, Aracnofilia, and iNaturalist.

If successful, the company has promised a free box of the crispy delight to the first 1500 signatories in their petition.

Additionally, customers can adopt a spider from the official Pringles website and get themselves an official certificate acknowledging the adoption.

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Some information about the Kidney Garden Spider

Kidney Garden Spider is a non-venomous garden spider from South, East, and South-East Asia, mostly found in Pakistan, India, China, Japan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia. The spider has had the same name since 1886.

They are small spiders, usually nesting around vegetation and building a web between leaves. Unlike many other spiders, Kidney Garden Spiders do not sit in the middle of their web. Instead, they lodge themselves inside a small silk ’hide away' adjacent to the web.

Once a prey falls into their trap, they sense the vibration made by the prey to locate and wrap it in its web for easy decomposition.