Select photos to be featured on millions of Lay's potato chips bags and in PEOPLE Magazine

Lay's potato chips, America's favorite potato chip, and a brand from Frisco-based PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division, launched a nationwide campaign asking Americans to help create the world's largest "Happiness Exhibit" - a digital work of art made entirely from consumer submitted photos that showcase simple happy moments. Now through May 31, people can visit the exhibit at www.lays.com to continually upload and view the growing collage that collectively celebrates simple happiness in America.

"Our consumers understand a basic truth - that the happiest moments in our lives are truly the simple ones. And science has proven that happiness is contagious," explains Gannon Jones, vice president, portfolio marketing, Frito-Lay North America. "This insight inspired us to create the 'Happiness Exhibit' as a way to spotlight the moments of simple happiness that people treasure most. And there's no better medium than photography - everyone has a photo in their collection that captures a happy moment."

From the online exhibit, select photos will be chosen to be featured on millions of Lay's potato chip bags sold nationwide, and in commemorative ads in issues of PEOPLE magazine. Pictures contending for a special Mother's Day advertising spread in the May 10th issue of PEOPLE magazine can be uploaded now until March 31. Photos for a special American Summer-themed spread running in the May 24th dated book can be uploaded between April 1 and 18. In addition, visitors to the exhibit can also interact with fun applications such as Smile-O-Grams, video e-cards and wallpapers.

"The Lay's brand is inviting Americans to share their special moments with us - so that we can share them with others," said Jones. "We're excited to provide national stages such as the pages of PEOPLE magazine, and on millions of our potato chip bags to share happiness and help it grow."

To help kick-off the "Happiness Exhibit," a Lay's "Simple Happiness" truck traveled around New York City on National Potato Chip Day (March 14) delivering 10,000 free bags of Lay's potato chips to New Yorkers at iconic locations including Times Square, Herald Square, Bryant Park and Central Park.

The Lay's brand began a repositioning in early 2009 that introduced a new theme line, "Happiness is Simple," designed to uniquely celebrate the brand, its place in people's lives and its role in bringing people together for life's simple pleasures. The campaign highlights the simplicity of Lay's potato chips at a time when consumers are looking for simplicity. The foundation message, "Happiness is Simple," also echoes the simplicity of the Lay's potato chip product ingredients, which include just potatoes, all-natural oil and a dash of salt.

Happiness and photography by the numbers

Photos were specifically chosen as the vehicle for delivering happiness in this campaign because they are so ubiquitous:

  --  More than 70 percent of all Americans own a digital camera, and take

      on average 28 photos per month.  Eighty-five percent of photos taken

      are uploaded to computers, and 64 percent of Americans use a

      photo-sharing / storage site (Source: Forrester Research, March 2009).

  Science has shown that happiness is indeed contagious:

  --  A 2009 book by Harvard Medical School professor Nicholas Christakis

      and University of California, San Diego political scientist James

      Fowler found that within your social network, the happiness of someone

      with whom you have frequent contact increases the likelihood of your

      happiness by 15 percent.  Additionally:

  --  Happy spouses provide an eight percent happiness boost, while,

      surprisingly, a happy next-door neighbor made you 34 percent more

      likely to be happy.

  --  Within social networks, each additional happy friend increases a

      person's probability of being happy by about nine percent.