Thanksgiving checklist...turkey, cranberry sauce...turkey SODA...what!

Yes, you heard it right...Turkey soda may be this year's addition to the Thanksgiving meal in a couple weeks. Most people stick to the traditional fixings like - potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce...yada yada....but this year there is a new item to add to your checklist.

Surprisingly, this is not the first year Jones Soda has created a crazy/innovative flavor of Turkey soda. The main difference this year is that it is vegan...meaning that Tofurkey brand and gravy flavorings went into the soda.

Is it a hit or a miss? We shall find out after Thanksgiving this year. Until then, drink up the Turkey soda!

goodbye vending machines...

Who knew the day would come when vending machines would be considered "so old-school"? Check out this CO company which has designed a healthy, sleek replacement for the not-so-healthy vending machines. Boulder Natural Vending has implemented a Bamboo Box & Eco Fridge which customers can store healthy, local products which he sells to their schools.

Currently it's in an elementary school in the Boulder, CO area and is hoping for expansion into other schools in the CO region. Should be interesting to see where they plan to expand this company throughout CO and the US as well as selling to companies as well as schools. Hoping this reaches the East Coast soon & best luck for success in the CO market!

the Captain has been playing some tricks!

"Calling All Captains!" How catchy is that phrase? More like sneaky if you ask me. Captain Morgan has started a new promo perfectly targeting its male 21-25 segment with free customizable voicemails to send to your male friends.

Brandweek explains more. But don't wait for your phone to ring first...be sure to prank your friends before it's too late & you get pranked first! Here's the site so be sure to test it out.

the "not so little" organic food companies

Did YOU know that...
*Bear Naked is backed by Kellogg?
*Cascadian Farm is backed by General Mills?
*Kashi is backed by Kellogg?

The Chicago Tribune did a great piece on how many small organic food companies are and have been bought out by larger companies like Kellogg and General Mills. It makes you wonder...is that small brand you're buying really a small brand? Or, is it backed by a powerhouse brand? Tough to tell since a majority of the time, the larger brand is not mentioned on the packaging.

With new beverages come more sales?

With SO many new beverages out there on the market today, who knows what will be the next big hit? Celestial Seasonings has new flavors, Beverage World discusses new industry trends & Coke tests a new dispenser which serves over 100 drinks in one place!

Drinks Business Review discusses Celestial Seasonings newest addition to the herbal tea company, Sleepytime Vanilla. Also, they have recently developed a green tea with mature tea leaves creating less bitterness than typical green teas. As a brand of The Hain Celestial Group, this tea company is celebrating its 40th birthday in style with new flavors and new tea innovations to keep this brand up to date.

Beverage World discusses the latest fascinating breakout flavors to hit the U.S. market. Watch out acai & pomegranate....here comes - mangosteen, yumberry, cherimoya, black currant, cupuacu, shiso, yuzu & rooibos. Also present in the mix of beverage trends is blood orange which was prevalent in many products in this summer's Fancy Food Show in NYC. Can't wait to learn how to pronounce & taste these new superfruit flavors!

Last but not least...check out this crazy/cool dispenser which Coca-Cola has begun testing in 10 Jack-In-The-Box restaurants in San Diego. How neat is it to be able to select one of over 100 options because of the “PurePour” technology? Hope this makes its way to the East Coast so the rest of us can try this out!

McCafes....helping or hurting the golden arches?

The question that everyone has been asking - now has an answer...or does it?

BrandWeek wrote an interesting piece on how the McCafe subbrand is helping McDonald's earnings. Their CEO believes McD's success is because of an even mix of promoting the Big Mac & new McCafes and fancy coffee offerings. Second quarter sales are up and this is why! Check out their website and see how interactive it is for yourself.

Still not buying it? Not sure if the rest of us are either... Will McCafes be the next "it" cafe over Starbucks & Dunkins or will it lead to a big fat flop? What if people who go to cafes enjoy quality lattes or as Starbucks has begun doing...localizing the cafes in the cities they reside in?

Could it be Starbucks & Dunkins high-er prices that make McCafe more appealing in this recession? Nobody knows for sure but possibly a combo of all things considered will help or hurt this subbrand. Time will tell but we'll all be watching to see how the test markets work out until they move a few McCafes out East for the rest of us to taste for ourselves....

High School Musical...even on M&Ms

Who knew that HSM aka High School Musical would manage to make its appearance on M&Ms? (Not sure how delicious main characters Troy Bolton & Gabriella Montez might taste though.) Here's the site to purchase them online - M&Ms. What a killer money-making empire of a Disney theme if there ever was one for kids. Everything from backpacks, clothing, accessories, school supplies, cds, Halloween costumes, dvds, iPod covers, computer games, karyoke versions, stuffed animals, cameras, stickers, placemats, books, mousepads, clocks, posters, ceiling fans (yes, because every kid needs that)...I mean you could go wild like a true Wildcat with all the crazy HSM apparel!

But M&Ms...now that is something interesting seeing as kids tend to like no LOVE chocolate...parents can't resist going home with a sad kid so they'd rather buy the candy to make the kiddies happy. Sadly, it appears that these M&Ms are only available through purchasing on the Mars Inc. site. Although there are a lot of great things about chocolate + HSM - both being GREAT selling points as 2 of life's little luxuries that you can't live without - the negative thing is that they're selling this online. Too bad Mars didn't decide to sell them at the Disney Store because the in-store purchase is what will really make these sell fast! Unless they're already one step ahead of us and have placed them strategically for the impulse buyer checking out with the screaming kid. That would be a stellar move on M&Ms behalf...

today...advertising. Tomorrow...try-vertising!

Try-vertising...now that's a word I have never heard of before. Think of the whole idea of the scratch n sniff but updated. Sunny D has created a pretty unique tasting for its new Smoothies line of beverages made by First Flavor (patented Peel 'n Taste flavor strips) - see more in this article by MediaPost Publications.

The background on other companies that have used this are many alcholoic beverages like....Finlandia's tangerine vodka, Skyy's passion fruit vodka, & Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay key lime rum. As for non-alcoholic bevs, Welch's used it for a print promo (a lick taster in magazines) & Cambell Soup's V-Fusion. However, what makes this the best is that Sunny D is the first company to use this at the grocery store to catch the consumer at their decision making point of purchase.

The thing to watch is if other foods besides drinks will catch on to this idea which differentiates products in the supermarket aisle. Afraid to try a new product? Don't be if you can taste it first. This idea is just GENIUS & hope to try it once I locate a Food Lion in my area.

and the opposite of Red Bull is....SLOW COW!

Who knew the day would come when Red Bull would go head-to-head with a rival so extreme, so different, so opposite....Huh?

Somehow I recently stumbled on this new product called Slow Cow which instead of rev-ing you up....it revs you down to make you relax. Pretty much this is the new anti-energy drink created to make you chill out. Check out their website to learn how this Canadian drink can give you the feeling of...a one week vacation, an acupuncture session, or a relaxation session. Who knew that you could get ALL that from ONE drink?

I'm interested to see where this gets distributed...who their target market is (stressed out Canadians I suppose?) & if it makes it to the US.

BIG time mistake G!

Felt it to be VERY necessary to follow up on my July 9th post about G/Gatorade as I stumbled on a WSJ article which describes how Gatorade did a BIG mistake in renaming its Gatorade as G. This not-so-small tradeoff of rebranding has now turned into one of THE biggest marketing mistakes in the recession. Pepsi has been hit harder than Coke - Pepsi with an overall 6% drop in sales, Coke with an overall 1% drop in sales in second quarter sales.

Must mean that Coke is doing something right & that consumers have been very confused about the G & G2 products on shelves.

Easy fix? Call me old fashioned but save the billion dollar brand & go back to its roots of the big lightning bolt & GATORADE on the bottle.

low-cal...no melt....chocolate!

WOW! What else could you want from chocolate? It already is good enough but now there's a low-cal, no melt one...all I can say is bring it to the US! TIME investigates Swiss chocolatier Barry Callebaut & how they aren't letting this special secret out anytime soon. Apparently it has something to do with the enzymes in your saliva - meaning that it's the only time it will melt. For chocolate lovers out there curious to taste this be ready for a different texture - more of a crunchier one rather than creamy.

For now...we will have to wait 2 years for this product to appear in the masses but keep your fingers crossed that it will make its way to the states because what could be better than a healthier chocolate?

whole grains in a drink?

A bit skeptical about this new food find... Whole grains in a smoothie? Odwalla has come out with a new line called Wholly Grain in a Tropical Medley flavor. Check out the info on QSR or BevNet.

Am interested to know how a grain-y smoothie can taste if it has a granular taste or if it still keeps the smoothie taste that's necessary for its success? The plus of this new line extension is that it appeals to celiacs as the grain in it is brown rice, naturally gluten-free. Interesting way to make an already healthy smoothie more healthy...only thing I wonder is if its taste and sales will live up to the cute packaging and catchy name?

the difference btw a Starbucks & a local Starbucks

Happy to find Starbucks is refurbishing its locations with a more local feel...about time to "go local" while "going global". Although they've most likely changed the menus to appeal to local tastes...Starbucks hasn't ever created a local appeal until now.

Starbucks is testing out names for its stores to create this local appeal to improve its sales. Found an article in The Seattle Times and found it very pertinent to what many retailers are failing to provide to its consumers. From recent trends I've found, the big fancy stores are out and helping out the local farmer's market are in. Although Starbucks may never be considered the "local coffee shop around the corner", they sure are proposing an interesting idea to fit in neighborhoods a bit better. Three of its stores in Seattle will now be named after the neighborhoods they are located in - for example, 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, after the address it resides in. Although I am not familiar with Seattle, I find it an interesting way for Starbucks to engage in its headquarter city.

Not sure if it's a LT goal to do this to every Starbucks but possibly an idea to spread to certain locations. Interesting idea & hope one is remodeled to the East Coast so we can check it out!

while some people say just DANCE!...this site says JUST DRINKS

Just Drinks is a site dedicated to the drinks industry. I stumbled on it when checking out an article about Sunkist's latest promo. Sunkist's Take A Stand program was designed to encourage kids to raise money for their community through lemonade stand sales. The best thing about it is this isn't just an IDEA...Sunkist has helped kids raise over $3million for local charities since starting in 2004.

Pros on this promo:

• an interactive site to help kids come up with ideas/recipes to check out for Take a Stand
• info for parents to read up on how to find a local 501(c)(3) charity
• good press for Sunkist

Cons on this promo:

• how exactly can Sunkist keep track of who's selling lemonade under their name
  
• how to know if participants are donating 100% of $$ to their local charities
  

So the thing I'm curious to know is...although Sunkist encourages kids to help out their community (clearly a GOOD thing), how is that engaging the target market of healthy grocery shoppers say between 25-45 since my guess is the kids aren't the ones making the household grocery lists & shopping for those food items...?

how contradictory are Starbursts?

Although most people see Starbursts as just a bit of juicy flavor to nix that sweet tooth, this candy company would like you to remember that they are a...contradiction! Hmm...seem a bit odd? Well, their new ad campaign - see BrandWeek - embraces their contradictory-ness by reminding people "it's a pack of contradictions". When you think about it, Starbursts are an odd candy because it's hard on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside so it's not a hard candy, not a gum…what category would you call it? Interesting idea which sparked from customer feedback and interesting ads to come with a Scotch-Korean & an albino lifeguard... well you'll have to read more to learn more about it. Hopefully the contradictions won't confuse the customers more but will increase sales with another bit of life's small luxury item at the checkout line.