There I was, watching the Antiques Roadshow on my 10+ year old televsion (tuned in through rabbit ears, as I cancelled cable this summer), and when some boring sports item came on, I flipped to one of the other three channels I get. And thre I saw two ads in a row for food items that were being marketed as budget-friendly. Very savvy, Madison Ave -- and quick, too! Same day as the failed bail-out package.
The first ad was for Kentucky Fried Chicken and was called "The $10 Challenge." It featured a mother and two kids going to the grocery store to see if they could find the fixin's for a KFC meal for four for under $10.00 (presumably, that's what the bucket of dead chickens dusted in chemicals costs -- did I mention I'm a vegetarian?). Of course, they can't meet the challenge, so they gleefully go off to KFC to "save money." You, the viewer, are thus able not to have to do that hard math, and can just trust that the KFC meal is less expensive than buying real ingredients. I seriously doubt that this is true, but it's a marvelously clever (and deceptive) commercial and really gets the spirit of the times.
The second was for some frozen version of breaded dead chicken that you can cook at home. I think it might have been Banquet brand, but regardless, their tag line was something like "easy on the budget." (I was starting to fall asleep at this point, but was intrigued by the two "thrifty" commercials in a row).
So, the advertisers now want us to buy "thrifty" food that we don't need (and that isn't thrifty) rather than "luxury" goods (that aren't really that luxurious) that we also don't need. It's interesting the different bill of goods we're being offered -- garbage to put in our bodies, rather than garbage to put on our bodies (coach bags and the like) -- as the economy downshifts. Still, that home-made fried chicken (or tofu, as the case may be) will always be a better value.
