The New York Times recently\u00a0shared\u00a0a story titled: when bloggers don\u2019t follow the script, to\u00a0ConAgra\u2019s chagrin. You can already see where this one is going.<\/p>\n
Before we go any further, since when does any blogger worth their salt follow someone else\u2019s script and sacrifice their own voice and opinion?<\/p>\n
What happened is some food bloggers were purposefully tricked by a frozen food company and their PR firm, Ketchum, to try to get press from said bloggers.<\/p>\n
The details are as follows: food bloggers in New York were invited to a supposed four-course meal prepared by George Duran, the chef who hosts the \u201cUltimate Cake Off\u201d on TLC. But instead being prepared by the chef, the lasagna they were served was Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna by Marie Callender\u2019s, a frozen line from\u00a0ConAgra Foods. A played out TV advertisement gag that might have amused people 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
But to do this to food bloggers? Come on, clearly no one involved has\u00a0actually\u00a0<\/em>read a food blog. They\u2019re probably about one of the most serious categories of bloggers about their craft. Tricking food bloggers (or any bloggers!) is never a good idea on any level. The\u00a0outcome is, of course, predictable: a backlash from the bloggers, and the above linked write-up in a national publication.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get to the reactions. They\u2019re about as you\u2019d expect:<\/p>\n From\u00a0Mom Confessionals:<\/p>\n Our entire meal was a\u00a0SHAM!<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 We were unwilling participants in a bait-and-switch for\u00a0Marie Callender\u2019s new frozen three cheese lasagna\u00a0and there were cameras watching our reactions.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a sense of humor so I was okay with it and I had been enjoying myself up until that point, but I could tell that the rest of the participants were not.\u00a0 Everyone feigned weak shock and faked approval of the frozen meal.\u00a0 My guests were eager to leave all of a sudden and refused to sign the release.\u00a0 I felt awful!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n From\u00a0Food Mayhem:<\/p>\n \u2026on the chef<\/p>\n On behalf of the the culinary world, we hereby revoke your dodin bouffant; apron; and most of all, your right to call yourself a \u2018chef\u2019.\u00a0 You sir are an embarrassment to those in the culinary industry working hard to maintain and enhance a culture of food as one of the best parts of living.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2026on the food<\/p>\n As we ate the \u201ccheesy garlic bread\u201d I said aloud how incredibly salty it was.\u00a0 Jessica, her neighbor to the right, and the couple across from us all agreed.\u00a0 Another guest said it wasn\u2019t garlicky enough.\u00a0 The cheese tasted cheap and like a lot of fat was added.<\/p>\n I started to eat the so-called \u201clasagna\u201d. After a few bites I was done.\u00a0 I said to Jessica that the sausage-kibble inside tasted like what you get at Domino\u2019s and that the whole thing tasted like pizza hut.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2026and on the PR team<\/p>\n What good P.R. teams do\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0do is lie to build attendance.\u00a0 Lying to media makes it that much harder for legitimate P.R. teams to achieve their goals.\u00a0 Build trust, not facades.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n From\u00a0Chubby Chinese Girl<\/p>\n IRONIC<\/strong> As bloggers we get invited to a lot of press\/PR events\/dinners and what not. Some turn out great, others like this one, not so much. I guess what I don\u2019t understand is who\u2019s genius idea was to bring in bloggers into this. Obviously we love food, we spend all our time, effort and money finding what\u2019s above average. We don\u2019t eat to live, we live to eat. Feeding me free food doesn\u2019t automatically equate to great review. I\u2019ll always keep it honest for myself and my readers, otherwise there\u2019s no point to all this. I do advertising by day, thank you very much, at night, blogging is a passion and hobby.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Having done food PR in a previous life (for both national and local brands) where we successfully built community with food bloggers I\u2019ll share this: deception is always a bad idea. You\u2019ll get called out every time. As is trying to share lower-quality product with someone who is serious about eating. Just\u2026don\u2019t\u2026do it.<\/p>\n Real \u00a0foodies don\u2019t even eat frozen food. Kind of makes this whole the whole idea both confusing and useless. The only reaction I have to this situation is a bad taste in my mouth for both the company and the PR firm.<\/p>\n Are any of these bloggers \u2013 even the ones who weren\u2019t upset \u2013 actually going to become a part of the ConAgra foods community? Exactly. Basically, they were exploited for a pointless 1-time mention. Misses the entire point of blogger\u00a0relations.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The New York Times recently\u00a0shared\u00a0a story titled: when bloggers don\u2019t follow the script, to\u00a0ConAgra\u2019s chagrin. You can already see where … <\/p>\n
\nOur \u201cguided\u201d conversation was ALL based of eating better, feeding our kids, the concern of childhood obesity, farmers, eating fresh and local, seasonal ingredients, CSA\u2026 and the list goes on. Yet they were serving us a frozen meal, loaded with sodium. We brought up reading labels while we shop and being aware of what we eat, Phil and George agreed, yet this\u00a0FROZEN MEAL\/DESSERT\u00a0had exactly what we were afraid of, ingredients I can\u2019t pronounce nor understand.\u00a0This made no sense to me whatsoever. Maybe they thought that psychologically, if we are thinking\/talking about good food, happy food memories, our tastebuds would be distracted? LOL so silly.<\/p>\n