Don't fear the spud.The commercial for the following product irks the hell out of me.
It's a simple unadorned potato product ready for use and the ad for it starts out about how you don't have the time to mash potatoes. It is a sad statement on people's priorities if they can't even organize enough time for that.
McCain Purely Potatoes (TM) are clearly meeting a need and good for the company for realizing it and going after the market.
All that aside, the mere fact there's a market for potatoes that are already peeled and cut and ready to cook bothers me.
Seriously, how long does it take to peel a potato or three?
What delights me, though, is users of this product still mash their own spuds once they're out of the microwave or off the stove.
Consumers are being sold on the notion that they're saving time by using this product.
What are they saving? The potatoes still take as long to cook no matter who peels them. Any sitting afterward, or additions of milk or butter or garlic or what-have-you take as long.
It takes a few minutes to get the potatoes, and then peel, wash, and cut them. It takes not quite as long to get the package from the freezer and open it.
Fair enough. I'd say a consumer of this product does save 3-5 minutes.
But tell me something, how much money is it costing them to save those minutes?
A 10 lb. bag of potatoes is relatively cheap on it's own. Compare it against a ready- to- go product and those become some very costly minutes.
I think that's what galls me the most about the commercial for this product. It's not the humble spud itself; it's the idea that we don't have enough time to feed ourselves and underneath it is the suggestion that if you do have this time, then you are not part of the current culture.
You have time? What's wrong with you? Where are you failing in you life that you have enough time to peel your own potatoes?
I say enough is enough. Having the time to prepare your own food is not a sign of failure.
People, take a stand. Grab a peeler and take back your life, one spud at a time.
