That Wasn't Chicken

That Wasn't ChickenThe Modesto Bee is reporting that Foster Farms is trading in its wildly successful 12-year run "Foster Imposters" ad campaign for "We Foster Pure Honest to Goodness" campaign. [click on image to enlarge]
The new ad campaign has a broader, if less humorous, focus. The six television commercials key on wholesome and upbeat family meals.

The ads depict families together sharing dinner conversation and home-cooked meals. Quality, family values and shared experiences are the themes, according to Foster Farms.
In a counter move, the National Pork Producers Council is abandoning its "The Other White Meat" ad campaign and mounting a new "That Wasn't Chicken" ad campaign. The new ad campaign focuses on the myth that everything tastes like chicken.

Barbara Lee, director for the Pork Council, takes a hardline stance, "We're countering head-on the notion that all white meat tastes like chicken. With this campaign, we will, once and for all, put an end to that myth."

Food analysts are in disagreement on consumer reaction to these competing campaigns.

Martin Pike, a respected industry observer, notes, "It has always been the squaring off between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. We've never seen such an aggressive move within pro-non-vegetarian groups for the hearts and souls of non-vegetarians."

According to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Agriculture Department, per capita consumption of beef, a major pork competitor, has declined steadily since "The Other White Meat" campaign began. Annual consumption dropped to 62 pounds per capita in 2003, the most recent year for which data are available, from 69.5 pounds in 1987.

Pork consumption rose from 45.6 pounds a person in 1987, the data show, to 49 pounds in 1994. It has been erratic since, however, increasing to 49.3 pounds in 1999 but falling to 48.5 pounds in 2003.

Chicken consumption, on the other hand, has grown more steadily since 1987, from 39.4 pounds a person that year to 57.5 pounds in 2003.

Pike tactfully added, "An informed diner is a smart diner."

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another point of view ...

Anonymous Anonymous


Oh man, I would want my money back if I got that fortune cookie!
 

Anonymous Anonymous


This is pretty funny. I actually did a search on google for "That Wasn't Chicken" -- Good job of using the image! - Henry
 

Blogger Barbara aka Yooni


That's too funny! The *pork Council* huh?
 

Anonymous Anonymous


Now what exactly ARE you up to here?

Hmmm, but of course, the quote is 100% true... actually, i've given more thought to the potential of fishmongers to appeal to the notion of a phylogenic scale to appeal to food ethicists in search of a superior protein...

M.Pike
northcoteknob.blogspot.com
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


anonymous: me too! it's not the sorta message you want to see after finishing dinner!

henry: yeah, it's a recycled image, it just seemed so perfect for the story :-)

amerazn: well, looking around, i decided to credit it to you just for the heck of it. yeah, you get to be in charge of the pork council :-)

anonymous (mpike): i couldn't help it! for some reason, it just sounded too good to not credit it to you.
 

Blogger Louise


57.5 pounds of chicken in a year! Over 4 stones of chicken! I'm in shock. We do eat a lot of chicken in our house though.

I'm sure there's a joke here somewhere pork/cock... I'll get back to you on that one.

57.5 pounds of chicken!!!
 

Anonymous Anonymous


And what of "Where's the Beef" campaign? That did pretty well, didn't it? - Angela
 

Blogger True Jersey Girl


I am waiting for Louise Nilon's pork/cock joke, since I couldn't come up with one of my own...
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


louise nilon: oh, i'm a chicken-man -- 4 stones of chicken would just be a week's meal for me! i have the easiest, best picante chicken recipe ever: put chicken pieces in aluminium foil-lined casserole with aluminium foil, place slices of limons on chicken, cover chicken with picante salsa, bake for about 45mins to an hour on 350F. serve with rice or tortilla.

angela: i think the 'where's the beef' campaign was replaced by the 'beef that's for dinner" campaign.

truejerseygirl: yes, i'm waiting for the joke. but in the meantime, here's a placeholder: a jerk is born under what chinese astrological sign? pig (pork) or cock (rooster).

ok, not the best of jokes.
 

Blogger Julie


Hello fellow bay arean! Hmm, can't wait to hear your thoughts on soy replacing meat...heh heh
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


jadedmaniac: ah, you must be referring to SOYLENT GREEN

this is a classic cult, and i netflick just sent it, so i'll be watching it tonight. should be good to remind myself that not everything's fit for eating!
 

Blogger Louise


Although I like a good porking there's nothing that satisfies me more then a mouthfull of cock *ahem* chicken - sorry.
 

Blogger Louise


But really - 57.5 pounds of chicken in a year!
 

Anonymous Anonymous


This is really funny -- I bet the Pork and Chicken people aren't too thrilled over this. Remember when Oprah got busted for talking smack about beef (madcow disease)?
- James
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


louise nilon: ok .. that is a good one! love the wit! i'm gonna have to forward that to my friends! i know, that's a lot of chicken -- it's not a chicken-safe country! reminds me of that claymation: chicken run

james: i haven't heard from them yet, but i know they've been to my blog! yeah, i remember the whole madcow disease on oprah, that was such a mess; well, at least dr phil got a show out of it!
 

Blogger Delia Christina


new copy for pork council:
'pork. better than cock.'

[only to run in blue state markets]
 

Blogger Jo Travels


Nam,

Are chicken meat less calorific than say pork and beef? By how much?

Dutchman and I are not big meat eaters. 2 kilos of diverse meat can take 1-2 weeks for us! I guess meat and eating big chunks and steaks of it is not that popular in Europe. What's popular here though are those thinly sliced (cured) cold cuts meat. My faves are the spanish tapas, chorizos, hamon serrano/iberico, pain de ardenne, salami, prosciutto. I love them with cheese, olives and wine. I can eat them anytime. They are usually eaten here for breakfast and lunch.

Anywho, isnt that Soylent Green, the movie where they made biscuits out of human flesh???? I saw that on TV when I was a kid.
 

Blogger Hristo Boev


First, I'd like to congratulate you on your blog - it's awsome:)) There's so much information here. I never knew a blog could offer that much until I landed here:) The poem's also nice as well, ultimately, time will tell no matter what we write or say. Words will fade away from paper, fire will consume them sooner or later. If we say them, the wind will carry them away the minute they're spoken. In the end they'll find themselves in the sea where we all came from (supposedly) - We always find ourselves in the sea - e.e. cummings:)
I'll keep reading you:)
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


ding: oh, i would so love to see a billboard like that! i think it would do very well in certain markets like new york (re: "the village"), los angeles (re: weho), san francisco (re: gulch alley) and other highly progressive cities!
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


the dutched pinay: you would believe that's the case from all the media attention to eating healthy. i'll have to look into this and get back to you. if you're looking at just pure fat content, then i do believe that chicken is heathier than other meat products (only fish and some poultry such as ostrich have lower "bad" fat content).

i can't say i'm a meat-lover, but i also consider a meal without meat a wholesome, complete meal; some of my friends must have meat to make a meal complete. like you and the much-talked-about dutchman, i love deli cold-cuts. during the summer, i often time have for lunch and/or dinner just a platter of fresh bread (with a nice crust!), seasonal fruits and cold-cuts (all that you mention!). the meal couldn't be simpler to prepare: order a few stuff from the deli counter and grab a few fruits at the produce stand and a loaf of baguette at the bakery.

yes, 'soylent green' is the same movie that you saw as a child. i'll be watching it tonight for the nth time. it's so grizzly, that it's on the verge of comical. in the famous words of a fallen child-queen: "let them eat cake!"
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


hristo boev: thank you so much for your visit. i had gone to your site earlier and found it compelling. that latest poem is just bubble gum; look at the ebony petals or memories -- these two have much more depth to them.

i would really like to get your opinion of ebony petals as a it a foil to sylvia plath's "arrival of the beebox". i tried to keep the theme intact; though i cheated and managed to keep it all in one line (or five lines, depending on your counting system).

it's sad, my knowledge of geography is really poor .. i had to look up where bulgaria is located. wanted to make sure you weren't displaced in my 'blog parade'
 

Blogger Barbara aka Yooni


I feel so honored!~!~! Even without me being the head of the *pork council*...the post was very entertaining.
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


amerazn: well, this was a fun one! it almost sounded like a press release i wrote oh so many years ago. just remember, you are the voice of the pork council! did you see louise nilon's and ding's comments? i absolutely love what they had to say!

and your co-conspirator (m.pike), a lawyer, actually had fun with it .. and they say lawyers are humourless -- such rubbish!
 

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