Absolut is conducting a new marketing campaign in the UK where it will essentially go “naked” on shelves. Complete with a new website, www.absolut.co.uk/nolabel, the bottles will go without a label for a limited time in a stance against prejudice. "Absolut seeks to stimulate discussion around visionary and alternative views of the world that we hope will be inspirational for our target audience. Through this new bottle we are encouraging people to think twice about prejudice," said Mark Hamilton, head of marketing for vodkas at Pernod Ricard UK. We think this is an interesting campaign but would it ever work in the U.S.?
Originally from Wine & Spirits Daily
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Haute Dawg
Not sure if you've realized it but Hot Dogs are "In." That easy to use, grill standby is now the hip meal. Don't believe me . . . Check out Bon Appetit
So, in order to see what all the fuss is about we had our own little Haute Dawg party. Check out some of our creations . . .
Chilean Haute Dog
Thai Haute Dawg
Ski's Haute Brown Haute Dog
A Little Bit of This, a Littel Bit of That Haute Dawg
Volker's West Sider Haute Dawg
The Mediterranean Haute Dawg
So, in order to see what all the fuss is about we had our own little Haute Dawg party. Check out some of our creations . . .
Chilean Haute Dog
Thai Haute Dawg
Ski's Haute Brown Haute Dog
A Little Bit of This, a Littel Bit of That Haute Dawg
Volker's West Sider Haute Dawg
The Mediterranean Haute Dawg
Monday, July 13, 2009
Hershey kisses Web unit goodbye
Cue sadtrombone.com:
"Hershey's is making the strategic decision to exit the online retail business," said Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville. "The current business model is not sustainable."Chicago Tribune
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Private Label Programs Take Off
According to The NPD Group's "Private Label Perceptions, Usage Patterns and Intentions," 24 percent of all food and beverages served in American homes last year were store brands, up from 18 percent in 1999. Today, 97 percent of all households consume private label foods on a regular basis.BrandWeek
"There is no question that private label foods have become an integral part of American life," said Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD and author of "Eating Patterns in America." He added: "Furthermore, we do not hide private label foods as an ingredient or as an additive to another dish. Today over half of all store brand food eatings are the end dish."
Friday, July 10, 2009
Pringles facing crunch time
Will it stay or will it go?:
Procter & Gamble Co. has unleashed the four-decade-old snack in a barrage of new flavors, shapes and sizes with new marketing even as speculation grows that Pringles could be among the next P&G brands to be sold or spun off.Associated Press
"More and more, we're hearing from Procter & Gamble that the food business doesn't fit in with the rest of their portfolio," said Ali Dibadj, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, which hosted P&G officials at a New York conference in late May.
RIP, Oscar Meyer
But the wiener-mobile will live on.
examiner.com
Oscar Mayer, the man who owned the legendary hot dog and other meat products plant, has died.
Oscar Mayer was 95 and was the third owner of the company which eventually was sold and is a division of Kraft.
Oscar Mayer gave his bologna a first name. Oscar Mayer gave his bologna a last name.
examiner.com
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Earthbound Farm, Naked Juice to use 100% recycled plastic
Serious eco-friendly packaging from two major manufacturers:
USA Today
Earthbound Farm, the nation's largest grower of organic produce, will unveil plans to use only 100% post-consumer plastic — recycled materials previously used by consumers — for all of its familiar clamshell packages.
Naked Juice, the natural juice brand PepsiCo bought in 2007, will unveil plans to do the same for its bottles. Industry lingo for this environmentally friendly plastic is PCR PET — post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate.
USA Today
Slurpee Madness - AND IT'S FREEEEEE
Every July 11, 7-Eleven stores across the country celebrate their birthday by giving away free Slurpees. This year the convenience store chain turns 82, and about 5 million icy beverages will be handed out at participating locations.Read More at Pop Candy
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Crust Is a Canvas for Pizza’s New Wave
First burgers, now pizza:
The flashiest restaurateurs want in on pizza; so do some of the most classically trained, critically acclaimed chefs. Stephen Starr, the owner of Buddakan and an owner of Morimoto, two of the grandest and gaudiest Asian restaurants in downtown Manhattan, has lately spent much of his time in New York eating his way through the city’s older and newer pizza parlors, on a gut-busting mission to figure out what works best and how to replicate it in Philadelphia, his base.
Pizza is the latest fascination of David Myers, a celebrated Los Angeles chef who has turned from progressive cuisine at Sona to mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes at Pizzeria Ortica, which he opened early this year in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Pizza is the obsession of Mathieu Palombino, who once ran the kitchen at BLT Fish, an expensive Manhattan restaurant, but now steers Motorino, a modern pizza parlor in Williamsburg, that opened late last year. Jean-Georges Vongerichten, too, has gotten into the act. He’s an investor in Co., the Chelsea pizza place whose debut in January attracted the sort of food-world buzz once reserved for fussier fare.
New York Times
Study: Thriftier, Healthier Consumers Dining In More
A new study reports that two out of three consumers (67%) "strongly agree" that they try to prepare healthy meals, reports Supermarketguru.com, which conducted the benchmarking research on behalf of ConAgra Foods. And only 23% say that eating healthfully costs more, down from 30% in January.
MediaPost
La mexicana . . . MMMMMMM
Went to La Mexicana for lunch. Very tasty. I would have to say the best burrito I've had in this city. Hands down beats the pants off of Chipotle. I recommend 1) the flag burrito
2) watching your kids (the middle sign says "Please Control Your Children. No standing on Seats. Thank You"
2) watching your kids (the middle sign says "Please Control Your Children. No standing on Seats. Thank You"
Cheeseburger in a Can
Going Camping? Perhaps you want a Cheeseburger in a Can.
Here's what they catalog said it would look like
See what it really looks like.
Thanks David F.
Here's what they catalog said it would look like
See what it really looks like.Thanks David F.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Please, Please Come Back
Check out this list of 19 Foods/Beverages that the AV Club wishes would come back on the market.
Gatorade Gum Or Cookies and Mint Hershey's anyone?
Gatorade Gum Or Cookies and Mint Hershey's anyone?
Some Gardening Tips
As many people are turning to gardening to put fresh vegetables on their table and keep a little cash in their pockets various blogs are helping these gardeners with tips, techniques, and insight.
Just ran across this one - Garden Rant
Monday, July 6, 2009
Four Guys (and a co-op) at Five Guys
We finally got there. Two weeks after the long awaited opening, the IGT squad finally found ourselves all in the same city long enough to try the new Five Guys Burger and Fries in Clifton. Life is tough. Because we all appreciate mega-numbers and lists, we thought we'd give you the top 5 reasons we loved Five Guys Burgers:#2. Seemingly bottom less fries. They fill a "small" carton full of fries and then for good luck, dump another shovel full into the bag.
#3. We found yet another reason to go back to a college campus.
#4. Free peanuts
#5. A freaking delicious burger, with over 16 "FREE" toppings to choose from for a grand total of...wait for it...250,000 possible ways to order your burger.
A New Endeavor From a Local Flavor:
Per the Cincinnati Enquirer:
The Cincinnati-based company (Scripps), which owns a high-flying roster of household cable companies and Web sites, hopes that its latest media foray at www.Food2.com will find plenty of 21- to 35-year-old fans.
Launched May 1, the site takes an irreverent, pop culture approach to food but unlike other network shows, this one is attempting to capture flavors of cooking on Web video and through cyber-social interaction with readers.
Check out the full article here.
Ski v. Trapeze
When on business travel in Canada it is assumed you will take some time to perfect your trapeze skills. At least this is the thinking of one Mike Skrzelowski, whose threats of quitting and running away with the circus now have more bite.
Check out his fairly impressive skills below. No swinger jokes, please.
Check out his fairly impressive skills below. No swinger jokes, please.
Check out this Pringles Banner Ad created by Bridge.
via Rick P via AdFreak
"It's also kind of neat that clicking on it repeatedly reveals a little story within the ad, an innovation that earned it a gold Cyber Lion at Cannes last week."
via Rick P via AdFreak
The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts
NY Times takes on the perfect burger:
By most accounts, the burger’s upward journey began eight years ago, when Daniel Boulud stuffed ground sirloin with truffles, braised short ribs and foie gras at his DB Bistro Moderne in Manhattan. A few weeks ago, Mr. Boulud brought things full circle, opening a burger bar on the Bowery called DBGB Kitchen and Bar.
While some chefs have groused quietly about the insatiable demand for burgers, most are philosophical. “All chefs can be frustrated by the buying public sometimes,” said Clark Frasier, a chef with restaurants in Massachusetts and Maine. “In this economy I’m happy to sell anything they want to eat.”
All this high-powered attention has produced some new ways of thinking about and cooking burgers. Interviews with 30 chefs provided dozens of lessons for the home cook that aren’t terribly difficult and don’t cost much money. And it all yielded the ideal burger.
New York Times
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Keller's: Dallas TX
The IGT team took advantage of their amazing multi-tasking skills by mixing blogging pleasure with work travels. This week took us to Dallas, TX where some quick googling and a friendly recommendation (thanks to loyal reader Grant for the tip) led us to the famous Keller's Drive-In burger joint. The key statistics and ever-important pictures:
Travel time from hotel: 105 minutes (GPS failure)
Restaurants that specialize in coffee, tacos and muffins: 1
Number of potential homeless that directions were sought from: 1
Times referred to as "Yankees:" 3
Number of tater tots consumed: 67
GQ rank of national burger joints: 10
Travel time back to hotel: 17 minutes
Overall, the burger was good. Number 10 nationally may be a stretch, but the atmosphere, lovely waitresses, and drive-in niche definitely elevated it in our minds. Their specialty is the "No. 5" which is a double cheeseburger topped with thousand island dressing and freshly grilled onions. Overall, a very good, juicy burger with delicious tater tots that proves Texans know more than just their steaks, football and 10-gallon hats.
White Castle-role
Painter sent me this. I can't even determine what food groups are being displayed here besides the ever present White Castle Burger . . . is that marshmallows?
BTW - Do you know why White Castle burgers have 5 holes? It takes 5 shots to kill a rat.
BTW - Do you know why White Castle burgers have 5 holes? It takes 5 shots to kill a rat.
KAM v. SAM II
Kool-Aid Man (KAM) takes on Soda Man (SAM) in a highly competitive round of -- duh -- log rolling. Love the absurd use of a beloved icon.
Kellogg banking on fiber as next consumer craze
Kellogg's brings us FIBER MADNESS:
The launch begins next month when fiber-enhanced Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks, two of the company's most popular children's cereals, replace the old versions on supermarket shelves.The Detroit News
The cereals were chosen to kick off the initiative because they are widely available and among the market's bestsellers, said Celeste Clark, Kellogg's senior vice president of global nutrition and corporate affairs.
"It's tough to get kids to get fiber and add it without compromising taste," Clark said.
McDonald's Rolls Out Premium Burgers
While we are on the fancy fast food topic.
For the record, 5 Guys is all the premium I need in my fast food burgers.
Media Post
The new burgers are made with a third of a pound of 100% Angus beef and a choice of fresh ingredients, and served on a toasted, bakery-style sesame seed roll. They come in three varieties: Deluxe (topped with mayonnaise, yellow mustard, a slice of tomato, lettuce, red onion rings, sliced dill pickles and American cheese slices); Bacon & Cheese (topped with ketchup, yellow mustard, red onion rings, sliced dill pickles, three bacon slices and American cheese slices); and Mushroom & Swiss (topped with mayonnaise, sautéed mushrooms and Swiss cheese slices).
For the record, 5 Guys is all the premium I need in my fast food burgers.
Media Post
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Fast Food Just Got Fahncy
What happens when creative genius is focused on making some of America's finest fast food look gourmet? Well, you get White Castle tapas (below) and many other amazing creations.
Fancy Fast Food
Fancy Fast Food
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