The Interview

My friends are at it again... another Random Act of Cheetos.

The Accidental Proposal

With the multitude of Web 2.0 and social networking tools available today, many companies are turning to viral marketing to help promote their brand awareness. One such campaign was the Orange Underground, a viral marketing effort put on by the makers of Cheetos. The campaign asked fans of the cheesy snack food to film "Random Acts of Cheetos" (RAoC) and upload their videos to an online video hosting site. From the submitted entries, four finalists would be selected, with the winner being chosen through an open vote. The grand prize winner, to be announced in June, will receive $5000 in cash and a year's supply of Cheetos.

A few of my friends got into the act and filmed a couple of RAoCs. Though they didn't make it to the final round, I think that their videos were quite funny. Check it out:

The Food-Loving Comedian

I was recently introduced to the humor of Jim Gaffigan, a hilarious stand-up comedian who has made several appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman. Much of Gaffigan's humor involves food, including routines about eating out, cake, and bacon. His signature piece revolves around his fascination with the microwaveable sandwiches in a sleeve, Hot Pockets.

Served Up on a Stick

Earlier this week, SF Gate food critic Michael Bauer attended the Association of Food Journalists conference in my home town, the Twin Cities. While he was there, he and the 60 or so conference attendees from around the country took the opportunity to visit the annual state get-together, the Minnesota State Fair. In his blog, Bauer writes about his visit to the festival, an homage to the state's agricultural heritage and a celebration marking the end of another summer past.

While the fair features a multitude of art and science exhibits, musical performances, and carnival rides, I would argue that it is the food that draws people to this event year after year. Indeed, for a brief twelve short days at the end of each summer, the state fairgrounds become the proverbial center of the culinary universe. You see, among the 4-H livestock judgings, the farm equipment displays, the roller coasters, the REO Speedwagon concerts, and the stock car races lies the true raison d'être of the State Fair: food-on-a-stick. As any true Minnesotan knows, it is not the molecular gastronomy nor the Slow Food movement that marks the leading edge of the culinary world today, but it is rather the answer to the simple question,

"What food can I serve on a wooden stick this year?"
As Bauer notes, the Minnesota State Fair is the home to all foods served on a wooden skewer. From walleye pike-on-a-stick to alligator-on-a-stick to spaghetti and meatballs-on-a-stick to Reuben Dog-on-a-stick to macaroni and cheese-on-a-stick to pork chop-on-a-stick to the classic Pronto Pup, the State Fair has it all. You can even get hotdish-on-a-stick, complete with cream of mushroom soup dipping sauce, though I'm not sure why it took until 2006 before someone revealed this secret to the entire world. Of course, you can find other culinary gems there such as deep fried cheese curds and cinnamon sugar lefse, but it's the food-on-a-stick that brings the people back year-in, year-out.

This food-on-a-stick phenomenon is not just restricted to the Upper Midwestern food scene. Folks visiting the Texas State Fair can now enjoy peach cobbler-on-a-stick. Sadly, the cobbler is the only entry for the Big Tex Choice Awards this year. Hopefully, if all goes well, you will be able to enjoy Fried Coke-on-a-stick at the next state fair.

A Visit to the Kwik-E-Mart

On the way home from work tonight, I stopped at the local Kwik-E-Mart. Yes, the Kwik-E-Mart. In conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, 7-Eleven has transformed 11 of its convenience store locations into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the upcoming The Simpsons Movie, which opens nationwide later this month. One of these temporary Kwik-E-Marts is located in Mountain View, CA, just around the curve from the Googleplex and, fortunately for me, on my way home from work.

As I drove up to the store, I noticed that the 7-Eleven signs next to the parking lot had been liberated of their newly applied store logos, undoubtedly the work of souvenir-seeking scofflaws. However the store itself, with its new facade, was left unscathed.


Not surprisingly, a lot of other people were also checking out the newly transformed store. I counted at least 25 people, both outside the Kwik-E-Mart, snapping photos and loitering about a la Nelson Muntz and crew, and inside the store, taking in the new decor.


In addition to the cosmetic changes, 7-Eleven Stores are also selling a special line of Simpsons-inspired products, including Buzz Cola and KrustyO's cereal. Unfortunately, this particular location had run out of many of these specialty items for the day. However, I was able to procure a Squishee (although not the all-syrup Super Squishee which I had wanted):


The Squishee helped to wash down the pink frosted doughnuts that I picked up. Mmm.... sprinkles.


While my mission for KrustyO's and Radioactive Man comics was left unfulfilled, I'm sure that I will have ample opportunity to pick some up. These Simpsons specialty items will be sold at 7-Eleven stores across the country, so even if you don't live by one of these Kwik-E-Marts, you too can pick up some of your favorite products from the town of Springfield.

Guest Blogging: Karen's Analysis of the FFT Readers

Tonight, I'm going to put aside the keyboard to allow Karen to share some of her thoughts. Take it away, sweetie!

How'd You Get Here?

Did You Know: Food for Thought gets more hits from Google searches related to Fred Steak, Real Men of Genius, the Testicle Festival, and the nutritional value of food (generally sushi and Johnsonville Brats) than anything else?

For almost a year now, Food for Thought has been a personal labor of love consistently read by a relatively small group of friends and family. But in recent weeks, traffic to the site has been inching its way upward and Loren has been getting pretty excited. Being a Web 2.0 guy, he’s happy to see his work shared with a broader community. People have been coming from all over the world and getting here in the most interesting ways. I know because Loren (on more than one occasion) has shared his sitemeter statistics with me. While the numbers are nothing compared to the big blogs out there, I think the findings are worthy of note and would like to share some of my favorites.

Before we get started, let me stress again that Loren is thrilled by everyone who comes to visit his blog. The views presented here are mine only. Please don’t take any offense if you happen to see one of your own search terms listed; I am noting it because it was either entertaining or thought-provoking in some way. Come back often!

First, a look at the demographics of Food for Thought readers (from recent statistics):
The majority of readers (82%) come from the US. No big surprise there. But also represented are Australia, the Philippines, Austria, Canada, Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia, China, and the infamous Unknown Country. I know there are German readers out there too - not sure why you guys are getting slighted.

Lots of folks come into the site either through referring URLs (Food Wishes, Carleton, etc.) or personal bookmarks. But as mentioned above, many also come in as the result of various searches. Examples include:

• Testicle Festival
  
  Search terms have included: testicle festival utah, testicle festival woodruff, black gold festival 2007 woodruff. Similar searches result in links to the post about the festival at Mama's Place.
  


• Real Men of Genius
  
  Search terms include: bud light real men of genius, bud light present real men of genius, real men of genius boneless buffalo wings inventor.
  


• Food Nutritional Value
  
  Search terms have included: unfiltered sake calories, calories in unagi don, compare calories in baby back ribs and fish, calories in johnsonville brats. Links are taken to the July 2006 and August 2006 archives (among other places).
  


• Fred Steak
  
  Search terms have included: freds marinade, freds steak marinade, fred’s steak recipe, fred steak.
  

Beer can chicken and cherry picking are also starting to pick up popularity due to recent posts. And math pie/cosahedron/mathematical baking has also popped up more than you might think. Other intriguing searches include: quadruple BK stacker, taco in a bag, wild hotdish, loren cook "grill" (from China no less), and mmmm.

There are too many searches to even begin to mention (and the history only goes back so far). My, until very recently, all time personal favorite (and perhaps the most humorous search getting to Food for Thought) is: massage happy ending boulder co

But a new front runner has taken its place. Thanks to a searcher in New Jersey with ideals similar to mine, "beets nausea" can take its rightful place in the pantheon of Food for Thought Searches. And that lucky reader ended up reading a lovely story.

Let’s see what you come up with next!

Posted by Karen

Bud Light Presents... Real Men of Genius

As I wrote about the James Beard Award winners, Karen made sure that I also gave props to some of the 2007 Clio Award winners. The Clio Awards are handed out annually by the Nielsen Company to recognize excellence and creativity in the advertising industry.

I'd like to mention some of the winners in the Radio category, specifically two winners from the Bud Light Real Men of Genius series: Mr. Hot Dog Eating Contest Contestant and Mr. Boneless Buffalo Wing Inventor, which won Gold and Silver awards, respectively.

Gentlemen, this Bud's for you.