Packaging Innovation Conveniently Delivers Grease And Starch

August 6, 2006 By David Burn 2 Comments

A New York Times business writer looks at fast food product development, but finds manipulation of language instead:

Corporate jargon can sound austere when used to describe something like the Mashed Potato Bowl, a new menu item at the restaurant chain KFC.

To a fast-food gourmand, the product appears to be a simple, casserole-like mélange of puréed potatoes, corn, fried chicken and cheese, all smothered in brown gravy.
But to Patty Scheibmeir, a senior director for product innovation and development at KFC, the Mashed Potato Bowl is a “convenient meal solution,” a phrase that makes it sound more like a computer security patch than a stomach filler.

The article goes on to explain that KFC’s food is hard to eat on the go. Hence, the need for convenient meal solutions.

Filed Under: Packaging

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17. She went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time. Starting in Portland in 1995, I worked my way across the country as a copywriter and eventually became a content director making media products for big packaged goods brands. I returned to Oregon in 2008, and now I focus on building brands for companies that matter, including this one.

http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com HighJive

“It was difficult for customers to eat our food on the go,” Ms. Scheibmeir said.
Based on KFC sales, the statement could have read, “It was difficult for customers to eat our food — period.”
If the company truly sought a “convenient meal solution,” why not puree all the shit into a high-calorie smoothie and serve it in a cup? Yum!
D

This is ludicrous, but it’s hardly original to fast food.
After all, an “insightful blog” by any other name is just “somebody spouting off and posting formatted text online.”
Ah, marketing …