Create a Donut . . . Got It In You?

Dunkin Donuts just launched a contest to create their next donut, win $12K, and see your donut sold throughout the Universe, or at least Dunkin Donuts.

Proof America is Back?!? The Giant Cheeto.

Frito-Lay hired cultural anthropologists who watched stressed workers fiddle with stuff on their desks — including stress balls. So why not Giant Cheetos, instead? "It's a ball you can eat," Mukherjee says.

Part of the "fun," she says, is deciding whether to eat the Giant Cheeto in a few bites or pop the whole thing in your mouth.

USA Today

Something for the Ladies

New candy bar brand from Mars. Low-calorie chocolate bar named "Fling":

The candy is positioned as "Naughty, but not that naughty." In the first commercial that breaks next week from longtime roster shop BBDO, New York, a woman appears to enter a dressing room occupied by a man, with the two then getting undressed and proceeding to act, er, naughty. But then the camera pans over the top of the fitting rooms, revealing they are actually in two separate dressing rooms, as he struggles with his clothes and she secretly nibbles on a Fling.

How very Herbal circa 1998 of them.

Ad Age

This May Be In BAD Taste

Diners can 'have a ball' at testicle festival

Chiquita: Bananas and beyond

"We are out to grab a bigger and bigger share and that will help us become less volatile and more predictable in terms of our results," says Viviani, who heads up the company's innovation and new product development programs. "The goal is to win the customers' hearts and minds with branded healthy fresh foods. We are going to evolve the company from a commodity company to a branded company."

Cincinnati Enquirer

What are you cooking this weekend?

I just ran across an awesome website, Tastespotting, that culls tons of great food blogs. Looking for something savory or sweet this weekend, browse by image and then uncover an awesome recipe.

Mo' Town Philly

A brief trip to Philadelphia brought us these great cheesesteak images

Taco In A Helmet

Who says baseball is stuck in the past? The game isn't relevant to younger consumers? It must create new ways to stay current? Well perhaps this is the answer. It sure yanks at my heart strings. Memory lane reminds me of days at the ol' ballpark, tugging my dads pant leg to get me the ice cream in the Reds helmet. The game has gone global, so why not the food? Next up...Pad Thai In A Batting Glove?

More ballpark food fun over at Ben's Biz Blog

Taking It To the Streets - McDonald's version, not Michael McDonald

Have you tried a beverage at your local McCafe yet? I haven't, but now I kind of want a McGriddle and a McCafe Beverage (btw do they come in real sizes, or is it made up sizes like Venti?)

Well, while the McCafe's are slowly popping up it seems franchisees don't feel like sitting on their hands, waiting for their $100,000+ investment to provide return, so instead of waiting for corporate McDonalds to roll out national advertising, many are taking it to the streets.

"In Houston, McCafe trucks idle in parking lots, giving drinks away. In Dallas, they gave away samples at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. In Detroit, there have been "First Friday Extravaganzas" at the MGM Grand Casino, giving drinks away to 300 or more consumers at a time. In New Orleans, Moroch partnered with the NBA's New Orleans Hornets to create activities at halftime, with the goal of giving free McCafe coupons to everyone in attendance. To celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day in Philadelphia, McDonald's is offering a free small McCafe drink to each of the city's 100,000 school teachers."

The interesting thing is that I would assume the franchisees will in essence be paying twice - once for their own marketing efforts and then through their franchise fees.

Read more via AdAge

Healthy Choice Just Got Healthier and a Makeover!!!

"Twenty years after Healthy Choice first launched, manufacturer ConAgra Foods is rolling out a revitalized brand that it says isn’t just lower in fat, calories and sodium, but also now offers more proactive nutrition, contemporary flavors and an updated look."- Progressive Grocer

Healthy Choice Website

Lookin' for Some Local Loving (or at least food) - Become a Locavore

iPhone/iPod + Local Food = Awesome

"The $2.99 app is a great resource for anyone who's a farmer's market regular, offering government and non-profit data arranged in easy-read, timer-style pie charts on what's in-season in your state."

Check it out.

Looking for a Good Time. . .

Then check out the Top 10 Bizarre Food Festivals.

Thanks Liz S.

Recent Brand Refresh Examples

Heinz Ketchup:
"Vibrandt has just recently redesigned the Heinz Tomato Ketchup packaging, giving it a much needed refresh, while maintaining its classic brand identity."




Post Shredded Wheat:
"Minimizing on-pack communication points instantly focuses attention to the brand, product name and flavor variety. Refined typefaces and simplified images ensure easier recognition and selection on shelf. Retaining previously established variety colors ensures that packaging remains recognizable to traditional purchasers, but appears contemporary enough to attract new consumers."


Svedka Vodka:
"The new bottle for Svedka imported Swedish vodka had to be bilingual: It needed to speak to younger scenesters who consider themselves “in the know” and hang out at trendy nightspots as well as an older, more affluent consumer who likes to have a drink at home. This meant the packaging had to look equally attractive lit up on the back-bar of a hip club as well as lining a club store’s shelf, said Marina Hahn, svp, marketing for Spirits Marque One, Svedka’s U.S. importer."

Kraft Philadelphia:
"The pack, which had remained virtually unchanged for the past 20 years, now has a brand new oval shape and illuminated graphics that centre on a brightened logo with images of fresh produce on the flavoured variants. The new packs, which are on shelf from mid-April, feature a refreshed Philadelphia logo inside a burst of light, emphasizing the fresh and wholesome qualities of the product."



The Die Line

The King's a Genius

It seems that Burger King continues to forge ahead in thinking outside the box, or is it bun? Regardless, BK opened up a Burger King Kiosk in O-Town at Universal Studio City Walk. The kiosk will include build your won Whopper and Build Your Own T-Shirt.

Check it Out!

Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point

Kraft, Pepsi, ConAgra and others now touting the presence of real sugar in foods as a positive.

The turnaround comes after three decades during which high-fructose corn syrup had been gaining on sugar in the American diet. Consumption of the two finally drew even in 2003, according to the Department of Agriculture. Recently, though, the trend has reversed. Per capita, American adults ate about 44 pounds of sugar in 2007, compared with about 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup.

“Sugar was the old devil, and high-fructose corn syrup is the new devil,” said Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst at Mintel International, a market-research company.

New York Times

Miller Lite Reprises an Old Theme

Sounds like Andy England's first big initiative at MillerCoors. I'm dubious of how much the domestic lite beer drinker cares about RTBs and process.

The campaign -- one of MillerCoors's first strategic thrusts since it was formed last summer by combining rivals Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing -- is aimed at grabbing market share from leader Anheuser-Busch InBev and its top-selling Bud Light brand. While the new ads don't attack Bud Light by name, they are clearly designed to persuade consumers that Miller Lite is the better-tasting brew.

Wall Street Journal

Thank Goodness it's Friday's . . . Maybe not for Deutsch

Looks like TGI Friday's is looking for a new agency for their $100M Marketing Account.



Honestly, I had no idea that Friday's had been dropping so much dough on advertising - not sure it's working on me . . . I haven't been to one in like five years (or is that Applebees or Chili's, oh, I think it was Houlihans . . . are they still open?).

Restaurant chain T.G.I. Friday's has launched a review of its nearly $100 million marketing account, following a five-year relationship with its current agency of record, Deutsch, Los Angeles.

via AdAge

Kellogg chief calls for overhaul of U.S. food safety

The head of Kellogg Co, whose company lost nearly $70 million in products from a recent peanut recall, will tell lawmakers on Thursday the U.S. food safety system must be overhauled with a focus on prevention.

Reuters

Wal-Mart Relaunches Private-Label Line

Country's largest -- no lie -- food brand redesigns, refreshes and relaunches. And at a most opportune time:

Wal-Mart says its research shows that 75% of shoppers say the economy is affecting their decisions about whether to buy to national or grocery store brands--with 30% of shoppers saying they are buying more private-label products than a year ago, and 77% agreeing that store brands they buy "are as good as, if not better than, national brand products."

MediaPost

Best Sandwiches in America

It seems to be sandwich day on the blog. Just ran across Slashfood's Best Sandwiches in America from Reader. Based on my personal opinion, #1 is tragic as Pittsburgh's Permanti Bros sandwich, which graces FoodTV every day, is tasteless (as are the Pittsburgh Steelers).


Our hometown Skyline Coney did make the list!

Can You Fax Me A Sandwich?

While faxing is passe, scanning is all the rage, especially when it comes to deli meats.

Check out Scanwiches


Thanks Chris B

Ex-Executive at Cadbury Tapped at Fortune Brands

Candy and bourbon. Not much different according to some.

Fortune Brands Inc. tapped Matthew J. Shattock, a former executive with global confectionary giant Cadbury PLC, to run its spirits unit, as the company seeks to boost international growth of such brands as Jim Beam bourbon and Sauza tequila.

Wall Street Journal

Boxed Water

Started with the simple idea of creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit - we found that it shouldn’t be bottled at all, but instead, boxed. So we looked to the past for inspiration in the century old beverage container and decided to keep things simple, sustainable, and beautiful.

Boxed Water

No potty talk at dinner!

If your mom was anything like mine, you were never allowed to have "potty talk" at the dinner table.

This is clearly not the case at Modern Toilet, a popular Taiwanese restaurant chain, where everything revolves around the bathroom, even the lights are poop-shaped.

For dessert you can enjoy elaborate shaved-ice desserts with names like "diarrhea with dried droppings" (chocolate), "bloody poop" (strawberry) and "green dysentery" (kiwi).

Hungry anyone?

To read more: TIME Magazine

Thanks Jessica B.

Can a cookie turn you on?

Nabisco sure thinks so...take a look at their micro site for their milk chocolate covered cookie line. According to the Perfect Match quiz I took, the Milk Chocolate Covered Mint Oreo is my knight in shining armor "handsome, cool sense of style and adventurous." It's as if the cookie psychic read my mind. Joking aside, this is a fresh new way to talk to consumers. Who is your perfect match?

Thanks Stacey!

Bake Potato A-Peel - A Lil' Friday Afternoon Delight

Nelson Beer: The New Tcho Chocolate

We all know of Tcho Chocolate at this point, and for good reason. They've excelled at enabling a new wiki-, open-source culture to customize their product and involved the consumer with their "Beta testing" model. (tcho.com)

Now, Australian Nelson beer has quickly become the talk of the town throughout Melbourne utilizing a similar, but more underground campaign. Designed by Taboo, the white-capped and unnamed bottled is recognizable with a signature tribal-looking graphic and swing tag that claims "This beer is subject to change according to the recommendations of people like you." The batches are numbered, enabling consumers to provide feedback on their specific brew.

Nelson's is only available in specific, limited venues but is expanding with its backing by Fosters.

Is Coca-Cola a drink or the next big movie producer?

The new Coca-Cola campaign in Europe is quite emotional - it is the real story of a man going to visit the newest member of his family. The theme is "Open Happiness" and the 102 year old man apparently tells the little one that we are all "born to be happy"....insert collective sigh here. Regardless, I have to admit that I found the commercial quite gripping despite of the awkward inserts of branding...

Do you recognize this man?

In a great news story regarding my two loves in life, baseball and fried chicken, it seems the Japanese have recovered a stone statue of Colonel Sanders that had been submerged for 24 years. Per the associated press:

A statue of the KFC mascot has been found in a river in Osaka, a city official said Wednesday, nearly a quarter century after being tossed in by crazed baseball fans who felt the image of restaurant founder Harland Sanders resembled a key team member.

And if you think the Chicago Cubs curse of the goat is ridiculous, get a load of this:

Many fans feel the team has been plagued by the "curse of Colonel Sanders" since his effigy was submerged in 1985.

There are so, so many things running through my head right now...why is there a stone stature of the Colonel in Japan in the first place? Perhaps Stuart Mackenzie in So I Married An Axe murderer was right...could the Colonel be evil? And most importantly, how is he going to make that delicious, delicious chicken without hands?

Hunt Away

Joining the flurry of candy websites that have garnered national attention, M&M's has launched their online Hunt.

Proximity and Firstborn have launched the web component of a Canadian campaign for M&M's called "Join the Hunt."

Promoting the candy brand's "Speck-tacular Eggs" line, the site lets you go on an Easter Egg hunt to find sixteen of said items and PIN codes to accumulate points that could win you a trip to New York, Las Vegas or Orlando. Along with the hunt itself, there are also four games to play including hopscotch, memory, word search and boat race. If contestants win, they can add to their score, which is being tallied on a leaderboard.

Creativity Online

________ is the new pint

Not only are they good at made up names, it seems they've gone and re-defined mathematics. . .

Based on my in depth usage of Dictionary.com it seems a "Pint" is "a liquid and also dry measure of capacity, equal to one half of a liquid and dry quart respectively, approximately 35 cubic inches (0.473 liter)," yet it seems our friends over at Haagen-Dazs have gone and redefined their pints. No longer are their pints 16 oz., now they are 14 oz. -- and causing some flack from their buddies Ben & Jerry.

Size does matter these days -- particularly in the freezer aisle, where Ben & Jerry's is mounting a pint-sized assault on rival Haagen-Dazs. The popular Dreyer's brand has decreased the size of its "pints" from 16 ounces to 14 ounces, and rival Ben & Jerry's is trying to use that to its advantage.

AdAge

So, what's the deal, do people these days care more about quantity or quality? I guess we'll soon see as America votes at the register.

Extreme Eating: Serious Eats Goes There

Over at food blog Serious Eats, user PumpkinBear asks the big question: Would you ever eat human?

According to PumpkinBear, the idea was brought up by an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations in which Mr. Bourdain visits French Polynesia, an area that has been known for some cannibalistic activity. Check out a clip of the episode here. For the whole thing I guess you'll have to wait around for the rerun.

The discussion runs the gamut from the humorous to the serious, and brings up all kinds of pop culture cannibalism along the way (spoiler alert: Soylent Green is people.) "Fuman" is also discussed--hypothetical fake people meat that would allow you to experience the taste without actually eating human flesh.

So... would you ever eat human?

Online Surveys & Market Research

My take: yeah, I'd do it. But only if it was prepared by a really good chef.

NEW BURGER JOINT IN THE QUEEN CITY!!!!

Maybe I'm the only THAT excited about this, I don't use exclamation points often, but I do love my burgers. The acclaimed Five Guys burger chain is opening a location in Clifton...with 15-20 more area locations to follow.

Per the Business Courier

Quaker Oats' Umbrella Campaign Unites Products

With more than a dozen lines of products using its name, Quaker Oats Company--itself a division of PepsiCo--is uniting all of its products under one tagline, with an image of the iconic Quaker Man image to back it up.

MediaPost

Top Scallop?

Sick of Jamie cooking Scallops on Top Chef this past season . . .


Get yours at Bravo TV

Want to Vault over a Moutain of Dew?

Coke: Buy 1 Rival, Get Our Brand Free

"In an audacious and quite possibly unprecedented move likely to resonate with recession-weary consumers, Coca-Cola will give away a free sample of its Vault brand to anyone who buys PepsiCo's Mtn Dew."

via AdAge

Radiohead had it right

"Little Bay restaurant’s ‘Pay What You Think the Food is Worth’ promotion is PR genius.

For the entire month of February, Little Bay’s Farringdon location has told people to ‘pay what you think the food is worth.’ ITCEC, this is the best idea EVER. Think about it: at first you’re like ‘Awesome! I’m going to get a good deal for once!’ And then you go there and are truly force to scrutinise every single aspect of your dining experience, which why I’m actually reviewing the restaurant instead of just talking about the PR tactics it took to get people in the door. And, boy, were they in the door. I was actually lucky to get a table at 1:45 on a Saturday. They must have turned away 12 parties who didn’t have bookings during my meal."

Full Article

Pepsi Bets on Soda With All-Natural Ingredients

Boy, the folks at PepsiCo have super-crazy-busy. Not to be out-done by Snapple, they also have some new stuff on All-Natural front:

The lineup includes a premium all-natural cola, called Pepsi Natural, to be released this month in 10 select markets, along with limited-time throwback versions in April of Pepsi and Mountain Dew. All three products will be made with all-natural sugar, and aim to take customers in a different taste direction.

BrandWeek

Snapple Pulling Out Stops For Product Overhaul

Sanpple goes (more) natural.

The company, which says it is making "The Best Stuff on Earth Even Better," is reformulating its entire lineup of drinks to have up to 20% fewer calories, while using pure sugar for sweetener versus corn syrup--and wrapping it all in new packaging that spotlights the green and black tea leaves that are part of the brand's tea line.

"This is the biggest thing we have done on the brand since inception," says Bryan Mazur, VP of marketing for Snapple. "Basically, it recognizes the fact that over the years, while consumers have enjoyed Snapple's quirky personality, they did not realize that we are all natural and made of the best."

Snapple Lady unavailable for comment.

MediaPost

The Homer and The Hamburglar: A Tasty Odyssey

The guys over at 1530 Homer are taking on the enviable/arousing task of finding the area's best hamburger. They have a very thorough list of restaurants and a clever scoring system. Definitely something to keep an eye on as they blog about their journey. If you had money on the best burger in the city where would it be?

(Disclaimer: in no way does this blog condone gambling on culinary excellence...$5.00 that Terry's Turf Club wins...any takers?)

Graeter’s to build new plant, expand nationally

You may now rest easy when leaving the Cincinnati city limits. Graeter's (eventually) to be available (almost) everywhere:

In a Thursday morning press conference Richard Graeter, president of the family-owned business, said the 28,000-square-foot plant will will quadruple Graeter’s ice cream making-capacity, to 1 million gallons annually. That, he added, will permit the company to expand its reach nationally.

“We will be using the exact same French Pot process that we always have,” Graeter said, referring to the method that produces the rich, creamy confection for which Graeter’s is known.

Business Courier

A Little Fun at Snicker's Expense

Social media one-upmanship continued in the digital community this morning when Agency.com's digital effort for Snickers.com, which encourages candy fans to "learn to speak Snacklish," prompted an immediate brandjack from a crosstown rival led by a former Agency.com creative.

Snckrz.com is a bare page done up in Snickers brown, with room for a user to turn text into a Snickers logo as well as a feed of a Twitter search for "snckrz," an element similar to Masterfoods' recent Skittles homepage redesign, also fashioned by Agency.com.

But snckrz.com wasn't a Masterfoods-led project, and isn't affiliated with the brand officially.

via Creativity Online

General Mills, Target Play on Consumers' Nostalgia

General Mills has given Target a month-long exclusive on retro box designs for some of its best-selling cereals, Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Trix. The package-food company is giving away T-shirts with the old designs as part of the deal. Consumers with five proof-of-purchase labels will be entitled to a free shirt at cerealwear.com. Consumers who would rather just buy one can go to the site and spend $5 to don a defunct Mills design.

Ad Age

Walkers Crisps are more than just a chip

Apparently it's a journey through flavor....

Quick Plug for a -Nu- Favorite

If you haven't been to what Cincinnati Magazine rated the "Top New Restaurant" in the area, you should get there quickly. I think we Cincinnatians are so accustomed to reading negative news that a positive review tends to mean long lines at the door or 9:30pm reservations. Perhaps we are starved for new and exciting endeavours by local entrepreneurs? Or maybe someone will just open another chain Scottish/Irish hybrid restaurant on a vacant nearby corner! Yay! Either way, my sarcasm gets the best of me. Chef Mark Bodenstein and his staff do it up right, and on behalf of all Cincinnatians, thank you. This from their website:

Starting March 4, 2009 every Wednesday NuVo will feature tapas night! $20 per person unlimited tapas and $4 by the glass wine features. No reservations will be accepted on Wednesdays.

The Vocabulary of Snacking, Lightly Sweetened

Snickers unleashes on our unsuspecting nation a new ad campaign which -- if successful -- will leave us all speaking a new language:

Snacklish is a humorous way of speaking that revises everyday words and phrases for a Snickers-centric world. To underscore their origin, they are printed in the typeface and colors of the Snickers brand logo.

For instance, the basketball great Patrick Ewing becomes Patrick Chewing. Combine the rapper Master P with the peanut, a main ingredient of Snickers, and he turns into Master P-nut — perhaps a hip-hop relation of the Planters brand mascot, Mr. Peanut.

Other examples include a Snickers taxi, or snaxi; peanutarium, for planetarium; and chompensation, for compensation. And the Sigma Nu fraternity is transformed into Sigma Nougat, after another Snickers ingredient.

New York Times

Tweet the Rainbow

Skittles.com has had a redesign. Instead of whatever flashy product website was there before, you will now see a Twitter feed that runs down every mention of the word "Skittles."

It's a little gimmicky, but it's bold and kind of genius. People talk about "leveraging social media" a lot. But the fact that they use that terminology betrays the fact that a lot of people don't "get it" when it comes to social media. "Leveraging" things is DORKY. Social media is cool. (Note: Social media IS nerdy. There's a difference.)

The unadulterated content on the new Skittles site is what's incredible. The site now consists primarily of pages from other social media sites. And it's not branded, dolled-up or edited. If you tweet something negative about Skittles, better believe it's showing up on the page, right next to the "omg i love skittles" posts.

Pardon my editorializing, but as a Gen-Y'er, I must say--this page is proof that Skittles "gets" how to talk to Gen Y. This page is honest, authentic and is really speaking our language, without the musty stench of Dorkiness looming over it. Amazing.

Baked! Redesign

New 'natural' substrate. More subdued colors. Simpler, quieter background. Less affected type. Greater emphasis on the chips.