F'd Ad Fridays: Reassembled pig

Next step: reanimation.

Via Buzzfeed

Update: Consumerist found the manufacturer, Greenridge Farm.

Here's a picture of the proud pork moulders at a food expo:

Does Slovakia need a law against cheesy ads?

I can see where the concept came from here. In Europe, cheeses are as unique as the countries that produce them. I just don't see these quirky ads selling a lot of cheese.

Ads by JANDL, Bratislava, Slovakia
Via IBiA

GoDog! Buns: The jokes just write themselves

Some Buzzfeeder posted a GoDog! display and described the bun as a European "method of hotdog". But the company is actually in Wisconsin.

Get a Grip-Not a mess! 

Teach an old dog new tricks! 

NEW...INNOVATIVE...FUN 

Frequently Asked Questions: 

Q:    How in the heck do you get the condiments in? 

A:     It doesn't take any longer to put condiments "IN" the bun than it does the old fashioned way!        Simply squirt, squeeze, pump, spoon or pour the desired condiments down the "inside" wall of the         opening...allowing it to run down the "inside".Catsup, Mustard, Pickle Relish, Mayonnaise, BBQ Sauce, Melted Cheese, Chili Sauce, Sweet n Sour Sauce, Pizza Sauce etc. Add thin slice Pickle, Finely Chopped or small slices of Onions and Peppers.
... 

Not just for Hotdogs! Any Sausage will work. Bratwurst, Italians, Kielbasa, Cheddar Dogs, Jalapeno Dogs, Polish Sausage. 

Try BBQ  Chicken, BBQ Beef, BBQ Pork. Sloppy Joe, Chicken Salad, Ham Salad, Tuna Salad! 

Don't stop there...use your imagination! 

"dontgetanyonya"

Don't get any on ya.

Even the product description is... ummm...

GoDog™ Standard Size 6" long / 1.35" diameter opening
(fits any regular size store bought hotdog)
$14.40/case + $12.95 Shipping & Handling

GoDog™ Brat Size 7" long / 1.5" diameter opening
(fits the bigger size products)
$14.40/case + $12.95 Shipping & Handling

F'd Ad Fridays: Sausage Fest

Via AOTW

This campaign, by Taxi, for Toronto's Wurst restaurant is one of those "screw you, vegetarians!" campaigns that we've all seen before.

Via Wandering Gourmet

In this case, the art direction is nice, but I don't find the concept particularly awesome. And I'm a guy who really likes sausage. (Not penis, actual sausage—just to be clear.) Thinking about the random bits of beast that get ground into neat intestinal packages is not my idea of an appetizing mental image. I guess Taxi missed that famous Otto von Bismarck quote, "Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made."

Via AOTW

What I do like is the "all natural - no preservatives" angle. They would do well to talk about the provenance of their meat and their processing people as well, since foodborne illness scares are on top of everyone's minds. As I like to say, "If you're going to put a man's sausage in your mouth, you ought to be able to look him in the eye." (Once again: sausage, not penis.)

Ironically, as well, Wurst features two vegetarian sausages on its menu (PDF). So they haven't quite take it to this extreme:

Via Passive-Aggressive Notes

Blog Action Day: Corporate Sustainable Food Responsibility? #BAD11 #food

Note: Today is Blog Action Day. Since it's also World Food Day, bloggers worldwide are posting about food security and related issues.

If you haven't yet been made depressed by this long PSA (or short film, take your pick) released by Chipotle, you can curse me later. But you should see it:



That's a mournful cover of classic Ed Bruce country song, made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, sung now by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The film was released by The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, to raise awareness of their key issue as outlined in their mission statement:

"The Cultivate Foundation will carry forward the tradition of giving set out by Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has contributed more than $2 million in the past several years to help fund initiatives that support sustainable agriculture, family farming, and culinary education."

It is also raising funds for Farm Aid, begun by Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young in 1985.

A great thought. But can it work? Will average people, especially Americans, be willing to give up their preference for massive servings of cheap food for a more expensive but conscionable way?

I last covered this foundation in August, when they released another great video against factory farming (an issue close to my heart). Then, as now, it almost seems too good to be true.

I really, really want it to work, however. I want to see food — even fast food — come from healthy, humane and (where possible) local sources. I want to see farming return to the hands of small and family-based entrepreneurs who are motivated to come up with innovative systems for producing better meat without cruelty and pollution.

The problem is, these seem to be elitist issues at the moment. Industrial food production has made meat easily accessible, on a daily basis, by all but the poorest of North Americans. And the demand for cheap hamburgers will continue to be a major pressure against purposely increasing the cost of a staple food.

The real solution, in my opinion, is not increased regulation by public health authorities, but rather removing the economic interference that makes fast food so cheap.

In the United States, corn is heavily subsidized by the federal government. The Eating Well blog claims that from 1995 to 2006 federal corn subsidies totaled $56.2 billion, saving the American beef industry on average $501 million a year.

(Canada also subsidizes large farming operations, although not as much as The US.)

While government subsidies would on surface seem to be providing a lifeline to the very farmers the video shows as in need, they create a system that favours large industrial farming operations and the commoditization of food.

I have seen this first hand. My wife's uncle has a small beef farm in New Brunswick. He puts all of his free time (since he needs another day job to make ends meet) into hand-raising his herd. But in the end, he gets paid no more per pound than any mechanized operation churning out cows for slaughter on the cheap.

Thankfully, the huge resurgence of local farmer's markets has provided an economic shortcut that links good farmers with enlightened consumers. If you're going to eat meat (like I do) it's reassuring to be able to talk to the person who raised the animals and arranged for their slaughter. In such a marketplace, pastured and antibiotic/hormone free meat warrants a premium price.

But back to the commodity meat market. What would happen if the economic protections that let BIG MEAT (and corn, and grain, and soy) produce so cheaply were reduced? What if a Big Mac cost $10? Would people adjust to better eating habits they could afford, or would they simply put too much of their budget into food?

The saddest part is that real food can already be cheaper than fast food, at least according to this New York Times infographic:

The real barrier is educating people how to prepare food, making sure they can store it safely, and getting them to care.

So, what is my point on this Blog Action Day? Well, I guess I'd just encourage you to think about the world you want to live in, then make the personal choices that will help make it happen. As a consumer, you can decide to pay more for better meat, eat less (or none) of it, and start to question your supermarket, your butcher, and your restaurants about the sustainability of their suppliers. Then support those that make an effort. As a voter, you can question your elected representatives about what they're doing to ensure a healthy and fair market for independent farmers.

As I wrote on Change Marketing, some social scientists believe that it only takes a core group of 10% of the population to be activists inspire progressive social change. You can be one of them.

Awkward Grandma does the "Schweddy Balls" bit

Adfreak featured this new Canadian campaign (also featured on CBC) for Crosby's Molasses that was clearly inspired by the SNL "Schweddy Balls" skit with Alec Baldwin.



This time, though, the writing is a little more hamfisted and the delivery depends on people being made uncomfortable hearing an elderly lady make accidental sexual innuendoes.



What the 'Freaks may have missed, however, is that watching nice old ladies deliberately and explicitly talk about sex is completely normal in this country. At least it used to be:

F'd Ad Fridays: There is no pesto in Uruguay

...or any other kind of sauce for pasta except tomato, dammit! TOMATO!

Note to self: when visiting Montevideo, do not order the pasta.

Via AOTW

F'd Ad Fridays: DiscoWHAT?!?

This modest Indian take away menu from the UK has been making the rounds online this week as "the greatest typo ever". I found one reference to it that was over 2 years old (with tasteless ads). I'll have to assume they've fixed it by now. Unless, of course, it resulted in a huge increase in soon-to-be-disappointed customers.

F'd Ad Fridays: [Media] NY Times sexy chicken is weird (and done like dinner)

Mainstream print-oriented media may be fighting a losing battle, but the New York Times has taken an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach to grabbing eyeballs with the bizarre.

Dining section photo editor Tiina Loite said “My original concept was sort of a languid nude". Some compared the final shot to Burt Reynolds' Playgirl shoot (but with less hair). PETA called it "ghastly and sickly" and "necrophilia".

My reaction? "Seen it". And I hated it then.

Seriously offputting.

Mexican restaurant takes shot at anti-immigration laws

Well done, Lime Fresh Mexican Grill of Orlando. Well done indeed.

Via The Consumerist

If you don't get it, read the news.

Chipotle is killing them softly with this song

Don't get me wrong. I eat meat, and I prefer to eat ethical meat. I also love the aesthetics of this straight-to web video by Chipotle, who use a gentle Willie Nelson cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist" and a wonderful animation by London's Johnny Kelly to promote their move to more sustainable food systems.



I applaud them on the effort, although I remain skeptical that a large fast food chain can be as local and low-tech as that. They have, however donated more than $2 million over the past two years to philanthropic organizations including Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, The Nature Conservancy, FamilyFarmed.org, The Lunch Box and the Niman Ranch Scholarship Fund. 

They've also been at this since last year:




Do you buy it?


(Thanks to @jayham for the tip.)

You Are What You Eat

Photographer Mark Menjivar has created a series of portraits looking inside people’s fridges. The series was completed of a span of three years in homes all over the united states. Each photograph is shot ‘as is’ and represents a wide swath of people. The series began when menjivar traveled across the US and began to ‘think about the foods we consume and the effects they have on us as individuals and communities’. This led him to ask people to photograph their fridge.