Sometimes you see an ad whose picture and text go together so well you think, "Wow--what a great match!"This is not one of those times.
"Let's see, what image should we, the Farmers and Manufacturers Beet Sugar Association, associate with our underdog product, Michigan Made Beet Sugar?
"Smiling children spooning sugar into their tea? A happy mom adding sugar to cookie dough? A gruff yet lovable dad putting sugar on his oatmeal?
"No, we have a better idea for branding beet sugar into the public consciousness."
This ad has the same "in-house" quality as did the dairy farmers' pro-butter ad from the Oleo Wars in the 1950s. I doubt either agricultural organization had the cashola to hire a snazzy New York ad firm. The fonts are sturdy, the images are earnest, and the conception is a tad low on the wow factor.
Nevertheless, readers, aside from these quibbles, please join me in supporting Depression-era beet farmers. Next time you're in Meijer's or Krogers, go to the customer service area. Slap your hand firmly on the counter and bellow, "Give me Michigan Made Beet Sugar and no other kind!" Then storm out. Join me in boosting Michigan Made Beet Sugar!
Boosting Michigan Made Beet Sugar is best done by thrusting your fist into the air randomly throughout your day--on the bus, in the office, at the family dinner table--and yelling, "BEET SUGAR! BEET SUGAR! BEET SUGAR!" This cooperation will not cost you an extra penny. Michigan Made Beet Sugar: available in the convenient 100-pound sack!
And even today, "cane sugar" sells for a slightly higher price at the grocery store. I have no idea why.
ReplyDeleteI imagine shipping costs? I think cane does grow in the South, but it still has to be schlepped up here.
ReplyDeleteI remember in the Malaysian market, the sugar cane guy in the street market would grind up a section of sugar cane in his machine, a cross between a juicer and a wood chipper, and then hand you a Ziploc-sized bag of warm light green sweet juice with a straw sticking out of it. Yummy.
Ever driven past a sugar beet processing plant?
ReplyDeletePhew!
I drove past one up in the Thumb one time on my way to visit a school. The principal told me they have to keep the kids inside during the heavy processing time, because the smell is so bad.
Eeuw. Didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteThe Discovery Show "Dirty Jobs" polled its forum readers to ask if a sugar beet processing plant would make a good show:
http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8251971108/m/9691987809/inc/-1
How about a day in a sugar beet plant? They're dirty, dusty and stink to high heaven. Would a day's worth of mike rollin around in some mushy beet pulp make for a good show?
"Question:
Would a sugar beet processing plant make for a good show?
Choices:
Yes?
No?"
Another person on a forum somewhere compares the smell of a sugar beet plant to a "dirty horse barn."
Jeez, I wonder why it smells so bad? It's just nice fresh beets...right?
I've been near Bay City, down wind from a processing plant near some beet fields. They do stink a bit at times but I suspect corn syrup plants stink as bad or worse(-see the film King Corn). I have a small measure of sympathy for them because it's one of the few industries still surviving in a fairly bleak part of the state. They've improved their pitch a bit:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.michigansugar.com/products/bigchief.php
...and Big Chief is now available in the convenient 2000 lb tote bag!?!
ReplyDelete