Tag: rant

Oh, It’s A Gas Station Hog Dog

Ketchup on a hot dog.

Somewhere in Arizona, there is a right field fence with a billboard advertising hot dogs. Normal enough, right? Hot dogs and baseball go quite well together. But this is a hot dog with ketchup on it. Now, baseball’s spring training is all about setting rosters and getting ready for the regular season, but I sure hope that hot dog doesn’t make the team.

If you’re watching spring training games on MLB Network, you’ll see it; talk about standing out like a sore thumb. A big ol’ hot dog with ketchup splashed on it. Eww. It’s as wrong as Barry Bonds.

The stadium billboard in right field advertises a brand I am unfamiliar with. QT, it said. Cryptic sounding. A QT hot dog. Was it real? Just what kind of hot dog purveyor would allow an advertisement of their product to have ketchup on it? Or catsup. Either way, hot dog aficionados would run the other way.

Further research was clearly necessary.

Oh, QT is QuickTrip. They are a gas station. That explains it. Perhaps it is more of a warning than an ad.

To be fair, QT supplies a toppings bar, so if you make your hot dog look like the one in their promos, you only have yourself to blame. But really, those guys need a new ad agency.

PS: Yes, I know some of you like ketchup on a hot dog. Sorry.
PPS: Not really. 😉

Campbell’s Soup K-Cup For Keurig Coffee Maker

Campbell Soup Co. to make K-cup soup packs that can be made with Green Mountain's Keurig single-serve coffee machines.

Let’s just start things off with a quote:

“Consumers told us we should put Campbell soup in these machines.”
–Green Mountain CEO Brian Kelley

I want to know who these consumers are. First of all, I’m not even sure that the idea of putting coffee in these machines is acceptable! These machines, of course, are the single-serve monstrosities like the Keurig coffeemaker that serve up coffee drinks one K-cup at a time. Ugh. Yes, I get it: convenience wins, it makes sense with multiple users like in an office… and well, that’s all I can think of. “These machines” are glorified coffee vending machines.

Which brings us back to soup. Now, Campbell’s Soup will be available in K-cup form. Stick the soup pod in your coffee maker, press the button and watery soup will be yours to enjoy. If it didn’t happen to be September, I would think this to be an April Fools joke. What, the office doesn’t have a microwave? Ugh. Glad it’s Friday and this thought will be outta my head soon!

Via AP

Little Hands Caught In Cookie Jar Get Put To Work

Cookie Cutters-in-a-Jar

Kids these days have got it too easy. It’s about time they had to put up with some work to get what they want. Next time the little’uns get an inklin’ to raid the cookie jar, they’ll have to earn it.

Continue reading Little Hands Caught In Cookie Jar Get Put To Work

Spices Dressed Up As Condiments (Don’t) Shake It Up

‘Mustard & Ketchup’ Ceramic Shaker Set

I like these, if only because of the fact they don’t bug me. I better explain that: the salt is where the salt should be and the pepper is where the pepper should be. In other words, somebody was paying attention. If forced to choose which spice would dress up as which condiment, I’d have to go with salt/ketchup and mustard/pepper, just like these salt and pepper shakers.

The Tag Earthenware Ketchup and Mustard Salt and Pepper Shakers gets it right. Mustard can carry a bit of heat just like pepper can, and salt, well, as king of the spices it seems right at home masquerading as king of the condiments. Of course, the designer could have just guessed—they did have a 50/50 chance to get it right after all. And then again, the ketchup does kinda look like a bottle of hotsauce…

Somebody Please Tell This Toaster That Toast Is Supposed To Come In Pairs

The Super Mini Toaster Oven

It was a particularly cruel day in marketing hell when they decided to convince the masses that ‘mini’ was a desirable quality in products. It was probably the backlash against super-sizing that caused the word ‘mini’ to be applied to all things food-related, so considering those fast-food origins it’s not a total loss. Paying the same price (or sometimes more) for less is not desirable, yet somehow the evil genius horde has convinced us otherwise. As in all marketing coups, there is a (chicken) nugget of truth; a little restraint can be a good thing–not so much when attached to kitchen appliances however.

The Super Mini Toaster Oven may at first look appealing, but judging by the inclusion of a 6.25-inch sq. cooking pan, the kitchen appliance would be annoying more than anything else. It’s more Easy-Bake oven than toaster oven. While it features the “capabilities of a regular toaster oven with a 150°-450°F range in temperature, variable toasting function, 15 minute timer and “stay on” warming function”, I just can’t get over the fact that only one slice of bread at a time will fit in the thing. Even a regular slice of bread measures about 4 or 5 inches, and yes, I checked—and then made a Dagwood Sandwich.

***UPDATE 9/6/13***
Looks like the mini toaster oven link above no longer goes to that product — I wonder how many one-slice toasting sessions it took…
Also, I updated the Dagwood Sandwich link to a swell Blondie cookie jar; the previous link went to a now defunct blog. Happy sandwiching!