Although I’m not sure when this rumor began making the rounds, by 2014, a claim began circulating that Gerber was introducing a Big Mac and Fries baby food dinner. These claims came complete with the image of a jar of such baby food. The claims were a hoax but the jar was not. At least not exactly. This image came from a 2008 contest run by a website called Freaking News called “If McDonald’s Ruled.” The digital rendering of this fictional jar of Big Mac and Fries baby food was a contest submission that tickled people’s funny bone so much it began being circulated on the web, leading to some people not quite understanding it was all a joke.1Evon, Dan. “Gerber ‘Big Mac and Fries’ Baby Food?” Snopes.com, 23 Oct. 2016, www.snopes.com/fact-check/mcdonalds-gerber-baby-food/.
To add to the confusion, at least one website combined this image with some real McDonald’s/Gerber Baby food news, that McDonald’s was testing the offering of actual Gerber’s baby food as part of their menu in some markets. Of course, there never was a Gerber Big Mac and Fries baby food but ‘jokingly’ combining this with the actual news about this menu offering surely helped this myth along. 2Scott, Micheal John. “WTF? McDonald’s Testing Big Mac & Fries Flavored Baby Food.” MadMikesAmerica, 16 July 2015, madmikesamerica.com/2015/07/wtf-mcdonalds-testing-big-mac-fries-flavored-baby-food/.,3Lazarus, George. “THIS MCDONALD`S BABIES CUSTOMERS.” Chicagotribune.com, 4 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-11-05-8703230508-story.html. People often fail to read entire articles, as I well know! This baby food test was done in 1987 4Lazarus, George. “THIS MCDONALD`S BABIES CUSTOMERS.” Chicagotribune.com, 4 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-11-05-8703230508-story.html. and, obviously, failed to take off in a larger way. People carry their own baby food.
Gerber Adult Baby Food: The Biggest Marketing Failure Ever?
One website claimed that “Gerber Big Mac and Fries sales are soring [sic]! With $1 billion in sales in its first quarter, Mac & Fries is Gerber’s most popular baby food flavor to hit the market; with a majority of it being sold in southern [sic] United States. And the thing is, more than [sic] 70% of it is being consumed by adults.”1“’Gerber Big Mac & Fries’ Baby Food Sales Skyrocket;70% Adult Consumption.” Cream Or Die Daily, creamordiedaily.weebly.com/home/-gerber-big-mac-fries-baby-food-sales-explode.
About as close as your gonna get to this in an actual Gerber baby food is Beef and Gravy in the ‘2nd Foods’ line of Gerber products, which is intended for babies 7 to 8 months old. These foods are strained instead of pureed.
This is certainly not the first strange Gerber rumor. Do you remember hearing that Humphrey Bogart was the model for the Gerber baby?