We have a number of familiar and iconic peanut butter brands. There is Jif, Skippy, and Peter Pan, flanked by store brands and upscale organic jars. But, isn’t something missing? Where in the world is Planters Peanut Butter? It’s one of the most persistent curiosity gaps on the food internet. Planters is the undisputed, century-old … Read more
As of 2008, Shreddies had been one of Canada’s most popular breakfast cereals for nearly seventy years. First introduced in 1939, the lattice-woven whole-wheat squares, similar to Chex in the US were a household fixture. They were reliable and nutritious. They were also undeniably square. Then, Kraft and advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather announced a … Read more
In the corporate branding industry, a self-serving myth has taken hold over the last few decades. It’s the idea that consumer food brands achieve multi-billion-dollar success through predictive psycho-linguistics. According to this theory, brand strategists and corporate consultants carefully construct names using phonetic sound symbolism, manipulating front vs. back vowels and soft fricatives vs. hard … Read more
For anyone who grew up in the 1950s to mid-1970s, few childhood memories carry as much magic as the neighborhood “penny candy store.” It was rarely a gleaming, brightly lit confectionery. More often than not, it was a dark, cramped little shack. A neighborhood corner grocer, or a family-run dry-goods shop. But for a child … Read more
Ask almost anyone in advertising or business school why early cake mixes failed, and you will hear the exact same famous story. The legend goes like this: In the early 1950s, Betty Crocker launched a revolutionary “just add water” instant cake mix. It was a triumph of food processing technology, everything needed for a rich, … Read more
Today, candy brands compete almost entirely on taste, texture, and flavor intensity. From extreme sour coatings to single-origin dark chocolate, modern candy is engineered to deliver an immediate sensory reward. In the mid-to-late 20th century, however, a huge segment of the candy industry operated on a completely different business model: the interactive novelty candy. For … Read more