Fernando's Favorite Chips

Hey, Matt:

My husband swears the Tostitos of his childhood (late '70s, early '80s) were round and nacho cheese flavored. He even remembers a commercial starring a guy named Fernando that thought the chips should be renamed Fernando's. I don't remember this at all.

-- Megan McComb, Michigan

Yikes! Another PepsiCo question. After our go-round with them over the sour cream and onion Doritos, we're fools for taking this one on. But judging from the follow-up Doritos comments, you all care deeply for lost snacks, so here's our take on Tostitos. Round they are. Nacho flavored they were. And Fernando? How could you forget him. He was the on-camera spokeschip for Tostitos from 1979 to 1988. Fernando Escandon is a Mexican-born, U.S.-raised actor, voiceover specialist, sports commentator, and local L.A. TV personality. After PepsiCo's embarrassing 1968 "Frito Bandito" commercials, shot dead by political correctness in 1970, Don Fernando was a much more dignified choice.