Crumbs

The other night, I was sitting around with three other friends of mine and we were concocting what happened to become the greatest marinade know to man. Taking leftovers found all around our Prague apartment, we combined the likes of Cayenne Pepper, Barbecue Sauce, Hot Chili Sauce, and finally some Tortilla chips.

We were baking a pizza and wanted to use the sauce to dip the pizza in. The results were fantastic, and if I were you, I'd probably get these supplies whenever possible and try it out. Well, now that you understand what was going on around me, I guess I can tell you what the actual idea is.

It isn't an original marinade made of the four aforementioned substances. Rather, the idea struck us when we were scrounging for more things to put into our marinade, and finally finding the Tortilla Chips. The owner of the Tortilla Chips had just a couple left, at most a handful, and otherwise all that was left were crumbs bunched up in the bottom of the bag. These crumbs came in handy when mixing it into the marinade, because they were already quite small so you didn't have to crush them up.

However, it then occurred to us just how simple, brilliant, and delightful crumbs are. Buy any bag of potato chips, tortilla chips, or chips in general, and you're going to have some crumbs accumulate at the bottom.

It's just what happens to a bags of chips, ask a physicist or brain surgeon and he or she will tell you. Yet, it bothers some people that once all the chips are done only crumbs remain. But what were to happen if you just had a whole bag of crumbs to begin with?

Rather than having small bite size potato chips that Lays or Ruffles offers, or uniform, identical potato chips as Pringles offers, provide an entire bag (or tube) of a Crumb taste explosion. Crumbs can be a lot of fun to eat...if you have a lot of them.

They are crunchy, just as potato chips are, and they can get stuck on your fingers, which allows for you (or a friend) to lick them off. The taste and flavor remains intact, because the process of making the chip remains the same. The only thing that differs is what is done with chip post production.

Testing for Realism:

• Does it have a targeted demographic?

To this, I would answer Yes ten times over. I think that there are a lot of people who would enjoy and indulge in Crumbs as a tasty treat that is seen as an alternative to regular potato chips. The first demographic I can see taking hold of this concept is children between age 7 and 12. I say this because the concept of Crumbs as food may seem appealing to a younger audience.

Licking your fingers and getting a little messy is all these guys want to do. Second, these would be ideal for a health conscious eater. Eating crumbs is like eating celery, you don't really remember doing it, but you actually did. Crumbs will feel like eating nothing, and you can package these guys in beautiful "100 Calorie" bags. Another demographic who would grab on to these are the "extreme" food eaters.

Think about the crew from, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, who continually give the two protagonists a hard time. Just as these "dudes" enjoyed chowing down on 3D Doritos, Slim Jims, and Funyuns, Crumbs might be the next food that they can't get enough of. Finally, linked to the last set of people, you have people who enjoy smoking marijuana, who would enjoy this treat as a nice munchie late at night.

• Does it fill a need?

The short answer to this is No, but that can be argued a couple different ways. It doesn't fill a need, because it is already filled by other foods we can eat, and foods that are more essential for nourishment, unlike a potato chip. However, there is nothing like this on the market, so it can fill its own need once it hits the market. Who knows what the true power of Crumbs is?

• Can it be set up by an individual or individuals?

Yes. I think that this is actually quite a simple thing to set up, yet you need a couple items that are a little hard to come by. For instance, you would probably have to have access to some sort of machine that can already create potato chips. Following the production of these "original" potato chips, all one needs to do is crush them and package them. That is really all there is to it in order to create a prototype.

• Can it make income?

Absolutely! Chips and the fast food industry is still growing. Also, it is quite a revolutionary product that could target a whole new audience who haven't even been involved in the potato chip eating industry. At the same time, you could get people who eat Pringles or Lays to try this new hybrid of a potato chip. If it is marketed correctly, then it will be able to hook people into it.

• Is it marketable?

Crumbs is a great idea and a catchy name for this delicious treat already. It's simple, but it gets the job done. To compliment the already simple name there are some fun ways to package this treat aside from a bag, like silly old Lays or Ruffles.

You could put crumbs in a tube or can, which would make for a perfect delivery system to the mouth. Think about just tilting your head back and slamming a whole lot of crumbs in your mouth. At first, they are just tiny crystals that coalesce into a savory and enjoyable paste that fills your mouth with an explosion of taste.

Think of the delight that you'll have in licking these tiny morsels off your fingers. A marketing slogan that you could use is, "No Limits." This would appeal very much to the "extreme" potato chip eaters, as well as the regular Lays and Ruffles eaters who are looking for a way out of their mundane eating habits. There are some funny commercials that can be made for Crumbs. First, for the health conscious consumer: Two people are sitting on a couch, or at a party, or in a park, eating crumbs. Then after a while of seeing these two chow down on their awesome snack, the one asks the other, "What were we just doing?" to which the other replies, "Eating some crumbs."

The scene ends with a high five or other jubilant action. Another commercial in which you can use already well established actors is the cast of "That 70's Show," in which they are sitting around their table in the basement and eating Crumbs talking about how good it is. A final commercial idea would be involving cavemen.

Scene one would include a caveman creating the wheel for the first time. Scene two would show the caveman who just made the wheel, go on to create Crumbs. The commercial ends with everyone of the cave people eating crumbs. Nice.

So there's an idea that I recently came into contact with. As far as it being realistic, I think that there might be a chance, but its all about the execution. My question is where would I even think to go to next.