MR TAYTO! WE have some shocking news for you. You have a twin, and he’s sunning himself by the Mediterranean.
This very familiar figure was spotted by one DailyEdge.ie staffer on a box in Malta:
Leaving aside the bowler hat and umbrella for the moment, we have the very same yellow, potato-like face, red jacket, and cheeky grin.
Is he not the cut down of our own Mr Tayto? Couldn’t he be Mr Tayto’s (evil-looking) twin?
It turns out we aren’t the only ones noticing the similarities:
After a bit of sleuthing, we tracked down the Mr Tayto-lookalike – his name is ‘Mr Riley’, and he’s the mascot of a brand of crisps sold only in Malta.
Mr Riley shills a variety of corn snacks, including Potato Pillows (mmm), Snax (hmm) and the very intriguing Pizza Rings (we’ll take 20 bags, thanks Mr Riley).
The coincidence was too good to be true, so DailyEdge.ie contacted the folks Tayto to see if Mr Riley was Mr Tayto’s long-lost relative making a fresh start in Malta.
A spokesperson for Tayto said:
Mr Riley has nothing to do with the Tayto brand.
Mr Riley’s Facebook page states that the brand was launched in 1976. Tayto has been on the go since 1954, so we’re going to have to say we were there first.
They do say we all have up to seven doppelgangers. Now to figure out if Mr Riley is good, or evil…
With reporting from David Elkin
COMMENTS (9)