Recently in New Products Category
All the way from New York City, Jared sends in a video report by a close friend who documented his first sip of Mountain Dew: Pitch Black II.
Video: PitchBlackII.mov (8.46 MB)
You would think that cult-like groups wouldn't be successful is selling flavored drinks. But Kabbalah is no ordinary cult, and the new Kabbahlah energy drink is an energizing formula based on actual holy water!
The website is full of useful information! A list of ingredients, some strangely sparse quotes including MSNBC saying "...Kabbalah Energy Drink tastes better..." with no mention of what it tastes better than. Well, I looked at the MSNBC article and the quote about it tasting better is actually from cult-spokesman Darin Ezra. New York Magazine is quoted as saying, "...this is the pop culture right now..." which doesn't really say anything about the drink. And Yahoo! News simply restates the tagline "new Kabbalah energy drink. ...'Source of Power'." If that is the most positive quote you can get from your press coverage, maybe you shouldn't tell people to "Google "Kabbalah Energy Drink" and see more."
CultNews.com has a nice analysis of the drink.
This is a brilliant marketing strategy. Start a cult that charges celebs a lot of money. Then, use the famous people to lure in desperate rubes and sell them overpriced yarn and other religious accessories. Finally, start mass marketing products and do all this while maintaining your non-profit status and getting free publicity from your devout celebs. Well played Mr. Berg.
Okay dudes...get jealous now. While you were probably enjoying your Saturday night with friends, probably out on the town, what was I doing? I was enjoying an amazing new beverage by myself, a novelty beverage at that. I jokingly titled this B to the E, but just now while looking up some information on this new beverage brought to the market by the good people at Anheuser Busch, I found that this beverage is literally called B to the E. What a brilliant name, right? To quote a late 80s SNL skit starring Tom Hanks "Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?" It is a new beerish beverage that also has caffeine, ginseng, and guarana in it. Whoa, right?
Now this might sound depressing to most people...drinking alone on a Saturday night. Deriving great joy in all new food products this evening, actually, was quite enjoyable. B to the E is sorta goofy. The taste is surprisingly fruity, and a bit shocking, but once you get over the shock it's actually pretty good. It comes in a 10 oz. can has more alcohol than most other beers (6.6%) so it's not a drink you would want a six pack of or something, but I can see me getting it again when I want something different, or like I'm studying for a killer test or just waking up. Uhhhh...yeah...B to the E, BOY!!!! TO THE EXTREME.
In these uncertain times we live in, it's comforting to see that a struggling arms manufacturer can expand his brand into other markets.
I present to you, Vodka Kalashnikov.
Let's face it, after the Cold War the former Soviet Union lost a lot of its mystique. Now, combining two of their most culturally powerful memes, they can create a new cultural force to be reckoned with. The man in front is the Russian general, Mikhail Kalashnikov, 84, inventor of the AK-47. The man behind the scenes is John Florey, a clever Englishman who was originally hired to make the offer to Kalashnikov on behalf of another company. By the time he finally met with the man, the company wasn't interested, so Florey pushed the idea on by himself.
Oh those clever marketing types, "It looks like the legendary AK-47 Rifle,�but it holds several rounds of the finest�Original Russian vodka."
Ryan adds: i thought the red army bullet bottle was good, but this... this is perfection. i must have it.
I have the power to change the course of a frozen waffle product.
Last week, while walking through the Lenox Mall, I was approached by a man with a clipboard who asked me if I had some time. I thought he was some pollster who I could wave off with a "I'm not registered to vote in Georgia," but that was not the case.
He needed a 18-to-34-year-old caucasian male to finish the last of his surveys. Fitting the bill, I obliged. He asked me some questions about my waffle-eating habits, to which I replied according to the responses that had been marked already on the clipboard. Not very scientific, but I wanted to help him out by making this go as smoothly as possible.
After answering the questions, he led me to a small office in the depths of the mall, far from the glitz of retaildom where I signed the form and he got the frozen waffles from the freezer (and $2 for my trouble).
The waffles came in a non-descript white box. On the outside was a sticker labelling the box #2 and a phone number to call to report on the quality (or lack thereof) of the product. Inside the box were eight frozen blueberry waffles.
I had to purchase syrup specially for the occasion, and chose Spring Tree Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup purely because of the flask-shaped container.
Since the box didn't provide any instructions, I was left on my own to decide how long they should be toasted. I turned the toaster knob to the middle setting and depressed the lever. The Quizno's tag-line came to mind while I waited: MMMM ... toasty!
After a brief wait, the toaster ejected the waffles and I poured syrup over the top and let the sugary liquid soak into the flaky blueberry surface.
Then I ate them.
They were decent frozen blueberry waffles. I'm no food critic, so I can't wax eloquently about how the flavor created some kind of hallucinegenic euphoria on my pallate, but I can say they tasted pretty much exactly like you'd expect frozen blueberry waffles to taste. I liked how the blueberry flavor wasn't overpowering -- it was just enough to provide a nice fruity accent to the waffle and syrup combo.
I haven't called the number on the box yet. I still have six waffles to go, so maybe I'll be able to provide Bobbie Jones a more thorough review once I've eaten all eight.
HA HA! Get my funny title?? Well, you may not get it yet, because you may not know what C2 is. Do you know what T3 is?? If you don't know T3 is a reference to the movie Terminator 3: 3D.
C2 is Coca Cola's new entry into the omniprescent and all powerful low carb market. It is marketed at "same great taste, half the carbs, half the cals." I really respect bringing the calories into the equations, because in these times the marketers have seem to forgotten that calories, fat, or anything else exists. I also respect the bold packaging of this new product in 8 packs instead of the normal 12 packs. If you are being conscious of carbs, cals, etc. it is even a better idea to have less of these "treats" overall.
I saw C2 for the first time in Las Vegas last Friday night. Entering the mini mart the darker red and the brash black & silver immediately grabbed my eye. At first, I thought it was a repacking of New Coke (the infamous mid 80's product that replaced the original Coca-Cola and is seen as one of the biggest business snafus of all time, that eventually with the return of the original formula saw Coca Cola regain its No. 1 status in the cola world) which is still sold in some parts of the US (still 
surprisingly popular in the Chicago area) as Coke 2. I surveyed the new item and decided I had to try it. The woman at the checkout warned me and wanted to make sure I knew this was "the new coke." She warned me about a funny aftertaste, but I didn't take too much heed and I struck out for the strip of Las Vegas with my awesome cousin and a 20oz of C2. The taste was really pleasant. It taste just like a Coke but a bit more mellow. I can totally see it being more appropriate than a Coke from time to time.
I have an 8 pack of C2 in my fridge right now. I think it will be a success of a product (I have been wrong about this before. Just ask Jake Longstreth about a little wager he and I had about Surge�). There are a lot of people who don't like Diet Coke due to the change in the flavor and a dislike of nutrasweet but worry about too much sugar in Coke. Of course, I am biased in this whole (Coca Cola) realm. I'm just hoping they bring the wonderful Sprite Ice� to the US, which is Sprite with mint, currently only available in Canada and Hong Kong.
Proctor & Gamble has announced their new "Pringles Prints" product which is their classic potato crisp snack with food coloring printing on the crisps displaying fun facts, animal prints, or questions from Trivial Pursuit Junior.
"Pringles is the leader and founder of the stacked crisp category and now we're taking it to a whole new level," said Jamie Egasti, vice president of the firm's North America snacks division.
I can say with confidence that I have been quietly waiting for someone in the stacked crisp category to take this step. This is not only a revolution in the stacked crisp category but possibly in the entire salty snack master category. HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY!!! More words and pictures printed on salty snacks!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
