Kraft is attempting to bribe food bloggers to tell their readers to skip "boring" spuds in favor of Stove Top Stuffing Mix.
In a post on technorati.com, Kraft is sponsoring a contest where food bloggers can win a $100 American Express gift card for pushing their Stove Top Stuffing Mix instead of "boring" potatoes.
Under a header bluntly titled, "What We Want You to Write About," Kraft explains: "We're inviting the blogosphere to participate in a contest to create humorous posts about how potatoes are a boring alternative to STOVE TOP [emphasis theirs] Everyday Stuffing Mix."
While the copy does say Kraft wants to "encourage families to consider STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix as an... alternative to instant potatoes," their ad campaign shows only a real potato, not instant spuds. They also encourage bloggers to "think of the type of humor found in The Onion" as they portray Stove Top as "the 'HERO' over the BORING POTATO" [again, emphasis theirs].
I know these are hard times, and there's hardly a food blogger -- or anyone else -- out there who wouldn't love a $100 gift card. And is a pre-made stuffing mix really so bad? Neither is really the point. It's one thing if a food blogger has a jones for Stove Top Stuffing Mix and recommends it to her or his readers organically, if you will; it's quite another if they're doing so to get a hundred bucks, even if they do disclose their motives.
But what food bloggers are objecting to via Facebook, Twitter, and yes, on their blogs, is Kraft's "humorous" yet obvious jab at a real food. Promote your product, sure -- but please, not at the expense of a vegetable that isn't expensive and doesn't come pre-loaded with high fructose corn syrup and 21 percent sodium per serving. And don't ask us to do your dirty work.