Recipe: French's Green Bean Casserole
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A staple of holiday meals in many households is green bean casserole. It’s an easy recipe that kids can help a parent prepare. French’s Fried Onions has established itself a key ingredient of this recipe and features the recipe prominently on its Website and for a while on its packaging. If you want to try a twist on the classic recipe below, consider using four cups of fresh, cut green beans instead of frozen and French’s Cheddar French Fried Onions.
Ingredients:
- 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
- 2 (9 oz. each) pkgs. frozen cut green beans, thawed
- 1 1/3 cups French’s Original French Fried Onions
Directions:
- Mix soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 -qt. baking dish. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French Fried Onions.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot.
- Stir. Top with remaining 2/3 cup onions. Bake 5 min. until onions are golden.
Bon Appetit!
Candy Brands: Cadbury Daydream
Can you guess which company is the parent company for the following brands: Chiclets, Sour Patch Kids, Mentos, Trident, Swedish Fish and Halls cough drops?
It’s Cadbury. Yes, that Cadbury – the Cadbury that makes the crème eggs which fly off the shelves around Easter each year. Cadbury’s vast portfolio includes chocolate, gum and candy, and approximately 200 brands.
Day dream: I wonder if a visit to the Cadbury factory would involve a milk chocolate river with Swedish Fish swimming along as well as Sour Patch Kids playing pranks on visitors then making amends. That would be funny. Note to self – don’t sample any Chiclets that might taste like blueberry pie and ice cream. Do you think the four dentists that always pick Trident get to visit the factory any time they want. That’s what you get fifth dentist. Wait, what was I doing?
So as you can see, it’s no wonder that Cadbury is a beloved brand worldwide.
Will the real Burger King please stand up?
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This week, Burger King unveiled its new futuristic 20/20 store concept. Wow. The only thing missing from this concept is George Jetson and his boy Elroy.
This announcement follows another recent fast food makeover from McDonald’s that has designed a comfortable, café-like atmosphere. These makeovers are designed to increase dine-in traffic and compete head-to-head with fast causal restaurants like Panera and Atlanta Bread Company.
For many brands, creating a branded experience is a great way to bring the brand to life. For example, the Starbucks brand was built around the delivery of the “third place” experience. Other brands like Charmin and even Tide have thought out of the box (or package) to find ways to better connect with consumers and create a true experience around the brand.
But, what type of brand experience is Burger King trying to deliver? Will people remember their BK experience? Probably. Does the design reinforce its unique flamebroiled burgers? Well, the red flame chandeliers make me think so. Will it drive sales and increase brand loyalty? Only time will tell.
Let’s just hope its signature fragrance isn’t part of the welcome at the new stores.
Ode to the Blue Shirt
To some, Billy Mays was just a loud, blue-shirt-wearing pitch man used to sell products you didn’t know you really needed. To others, like every-day inventors, Billy helped dreams of success and fortune come true.
Billy started his career as a travelling salesman crossing the country pitching household items like the Ultimate Chopper at tradeshows and fairs. In 1999, he got his big break selling OrangeGlo on the Home Shopping Network. What followed included dramatic success with products like OxyClean, Mighty Putty and the Awesome Auger.
The TV show, “Pitchmen” humanized him and showed Billy as not only a sales person, but a savvy marketer and loving family man. What becomes glaringly apparent while watching the show is that it’s Billy’s personal brand that inventors are drawn to to realize their dreams. While building brands like OxyClean, he was creating his own brand standing for trust, quality and value.
It’s a success story built one commercial at a time…“As Seen on TV.”