Pepsi could be beautiful.

Jesse Kaczmarek is a seriously talented designer based in NYC. If only Pepsi would produce cans this beautiful.

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Bloggers invited to go to Applebee's to meet "REAL" Americans

Bloggers invited to meet 'real Americans' at Applebees

When I saw this on Gawker, I didn’t know whether to laugh or just be sad for Applebee’s and for Tyler Florence, since he has been degraded (by his own laziness, arrogance, and perhaps alcoholism) to shilling for them.

According to Gawker, the folks at Rubenstein PR have invited bloggers to eat for free at Applebee’s Times Square where they can meet and interact with “real Americans” and ask them about politics. Ahem.

There are problems with this on so many levels—-what is the insinuation here, that “real Americans” are the tourists dumb enough to come to a mecca of great food and somehow end up at Applebee’s which they have next to their strip mall at home?

Side note: according to the book Applebee’s America, which is a great read for a marketer or entrepreneur, their Times Square joint is the #1 grossing location for them in the country. Which means the inability for Middle Americans to stray away from the chain is true. Either that or foreign tourists really believe that Applebee’s is indicative of American cuisine. Either way, ewe.

Their invitation via Gawker:

Subject: Blogging from Applebee’s

Hi Ben -

I hope you are well. I wanted to see if you would have any interest in setting up camp this week or in the next few weeks at Applebee’s in Times Square so you can interview “true Americans” about the election, candidates, etc. We would obviously set up an area for you and provide food throughout the week. We thought this would give you great insight into what Americans think for your blog, etc.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!

the controversial Go Daddy Superbowl commercial.

savethetoast.com :: Unilever is cheesy once again.

Unilever is known for their terribly kitschy marketing programs [the whole spraygirl thing--remember that? what is it with them and random 'viral' cartoon programs??] which is why I should not have been surprised when I received this email:

Hi Sarah,

I thought you might be interested in checking out www.savethetoast.com as it could provide some fun foodie fodder for your blog. It’s really lighthearted and I hope you find it to be as cute as I do. Please let me know what you think!

All the Best,
[PR person]

So I checked it out, of course....and now I am letting you know what I think: I like butter. I'd rather have anything real than anything synthetic and chock full of preservatives...but even if I was a potential or current Country Crock customer [the only thing country I really like is expensive cowboy boots and some music] I wouldn't be more compelled to buy it because of a 'toastamonial'

My questions to Unilever--Who is the target audience here? Are they in 3rd grade? Because if they aren't, this juvenile attempt at a brand interaction is just embarassing.

ps--this program isn't viral.