food « Hyperquake Blog

Corn Flakes

June 16th, 2010 by Julie Hill

I don’t eat Corn Flakes. That being said, I LOVE CORN FLAKES.

YES I WOULD LIKE A HUCKLEBERRY HOUND FUN MASK PLEASE AND THANK YOU
Package design circa whenever Huckleberry Hound was popular

The rooster, Cornelius, has been the Corn Flakes mascot since 1958, and C-Flakes have been fairly consistent in their depiction of old Corny throughout the redesigns, the obligatory (unnecessary?) kid-friendly drawings notwithstanding.

cornflakes
Current American Packaging

How lovely is that? How timeless and not-for-kids? I love it. I love always noticing it in the sea of graphic insanity that is the breakfast aisle. I love it all except for the beveling. Why always with the beveling?? You are soooo close, Kellogg’s! So close to meeting a designer’s cereal dreams. Just uncheck that layer effect! It takes like one second!

Then again, considering that this is the same company who is capable of sending this to the shelf, I should probably just shut up and enjoy it while it lasts.

euroflakes
European Corn Flakes

Tags: food, packaging

Posted in Design | 144 Comments »

Continued Innovation in the World of Bacon

June 10th, 2010 by Chris Strong

Leave it to bacon and bacon fanatics worldwide to continue pushing the envelope on creating new culinary delights in the bacon food group.

Yes, there is a bacon food group. There is an ad campaign about it right now, helping to increase the knowledge of consumers so they meet their daily minimum, if you don’t believe me:

It's true!

Well, the kind folks at Uncrate.com recently helped inform the world that there is a new innovation in the bacon category: Bacon Moon Pie.

Sweet-Tooth meets Meat-Tooth

Do you like marshmallow, bourbon, maple syrup, dark chocolate and bacon, among other things? Well, this slice of heaven is for you.

We are a company comprised of many foodies (and one member of the United Embassy of Bacon), so it’s always great to see new food evolutions taking place. Connecting your “sweet-tooth’ with your ‘meat-tooth,” it only serves to make it that much better.

Tags: awesome, food, wtf

Posted in Uncategorized | 137 Comments »

“If I could ride shotbun in the Wienermobile, I would …”

May 31st, 2010 by Chris Strong

Oh, I don’t know, shoot free hot dogs out at the crowds that would inevitably gather, via a Hot Dog Cannon I guess. I’m pretty sure this unexpected delivery of deliciousness would put a smile on all the Oscar Mayer Wieners fans out there.

As far fetched as that might seem, believe it or not, it really isn’t. That even goes for the Hot Dog Cannon part!

This actually exists.

That’s because as it turns out Oscar Mayer is auctioning off a Wienermobile adventure on eBay.

You too can have an adventure.

Now the term ‘adventure’ is kinda subjective here. That’s my only gripe. I’m sure this Wienermobile isn’t the easiest thing to drive, but an adventure riding in the passenger seat, I don’t know. I think I’d get the hang of it pretty quick. I was really kinda let down when I found this out because I was fully expecting to get the chance to see just what kind of power this thing has in it. I was thinking maybe if I won we could get it set up with some turbos or a supercharger and shoot the prequel to the Fast and Furious movies. One of the guys in the office has a new Mustang so we could easy throw down for pink slips like Paul Walker and Vin Diesel did…

So if you like Hot Dogs, specifically Oscar Mayer Wieners, you should probably go check this out, because I forgot to mention, in addition to the ride in the car, you might win a years supply of hot dogs (26 packages). I’m going to have to check with our resident package meat expert Andy on this count though, I think it’s low based on the recommended daily meat requirements.

Tags: food

Posted in News | 178 Comments »

Cooking for Aesthetes

May 18th, 2010 by Julie Hill

Don’t pretend that you’re not totally hungry now. Off to Smitten Kitchen with you.

Tags: food, photography

Posted in Design | 179 Comments »

KFC & the Japanese digital coupon fiasco

April 26th, 2010 by Chris Strong

You know that feeling where you want some KFC so bad that you’ll do anything to get it? And if anything or anyone gets in your way, you’ll go crazy and start flipping tables/chairs or staging sit-ins right?

GIMME MY CHICKEN

Well, imagine you want that KFC, you have a coupon you got off the internet and you go to get your chicken on and the staff at your local fried chicken establishment won’t take your coupon.

What else is there to do but cause a riot, right?

Hard to believe, but it happened in Japan last week. Next time someone has to be a bit more careful to ensure fraudulent digital coupons can’t be made. But hey, it shows digital couponing works if the offer is good enough!

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/nontraditional/e3i2bf7a2a5a7ec6db2ebe035d420ef018c

Tags: food, marketing, wtf

Posted in News | 183 Comments »

I Challenge You To A Cincinnati Chili Throwdown!

April 20th, 2010 by Chris Strong

The Classic Three-Way

So our little city is well-known for its chili. (We love it here at HQ.) To many folks, it’s not really chili, but that’s a whole other story.

The thing about chili in Cincinnati is there are factions of fans here that almost religiously support one establishment, never setting foot in a competitor. This has made for an interesting competition between the two main players, Skyline and Goldstar.

It looks like someone is trying to take that rivalry to the next level and settle once and for all, who the true Cincinnati chili champion is.

I’d like to go on record and state that I’m biased on the topic, but am psyched to see that people are lobbying for the Travel Channel’s ‘Food Wars’ to come to Cincinnati for a throwdown, Cincinnati Chili Style. Apparently, there were more requests on the “Food Wars” website for a Cincinnati Chili episode than for any other city or any other type of food, according to a story on Cincinnati.com.

Our city is becoming quite well known for its culinary delights, as Food Network’s “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri was recently in town, and tiny OTR diner Tucker’s was named one of the best diners in the country by GQ Magazine (March 2009 issue).

We keep trying to tell you, there is fun stuff going on in Cincinnati. Come visit, you’ve always got a place to stay at HyperQuake.

Tags: food, local interest, tv

Posted in Uncategorized | 248 Comments »

Talk about going to great lengths for your brand…

April 15th, 2010 by Chris Strong

Everyone probably knows that Domino’s opened up the floodgates over the past few months and shared with the world what people were really saying about their brand and product. They also apparently listened and went back to the drawing board to reinvent their product.

Bold move because, boy, none of that feedback was nice; evident in the market research footage the brand shared. For fast food, chain style pizza, a buyer can only expect so much, but I’m not going to say the feedback the brand got (and showed in recent commercials) wasn’t accurate.

That said however, I respect what they’ve done by putting themselves out there and I gotta say the next evolution of that campaign, which shows the creative targeting and ultimate success with the ‘pizza hold-outs’ was pretty genius.

Supposedly everything they did in terms of trying to get the attention of 3 holdouts that wouldn’t try the new pizza after giving feedback to the brand, is accurate and true; this consisted of pretty much a full-on individualized ad campaign of the wackiest sorts targeted to each holdout in their town. Kooky yes, but talk about commitment to getting these guys to try it. The idea to capture it all in the process, also smart thinking.

It’s all documented via a quick reality style video that’s part of the social media campaign to promote everything.

You can also check it out here: Pizza Holdouts

Tags: advertising, food

Posted in Uncategorized | 179 Comments »

Personalized Burgers – Literally?!

March 31st, 2010 by Chris Strong

Everyone knows that at Burger King, you can “Have It Your Way” way when it comes to the flame-broiled goodness that is your hamburger. The King and his team of merry men have worked extremely hard to instill this message in the minds of beef eaters and fast food lovers everywhere, but for all that work, there was always one part missing.

Sure, you could get your burger without mayo, or with 4 extra patties of meat, or with 2.5 slices of smaller tomatoes instead of 1, but there was always something missing, it just never really was “your” burger.

Well, BK and the King have changed that, at least they did for a little bit (in Brazil), by embarking on a unique little campaign where they show customers what ‘Made to Order’ really means.

As someone who isn’t a huge fast food eater/supporter, even I thought this a unique way of personalizing the dining experience and building some additional brand affinity. You can already see from the video that camera phones were a-snappin’ which inevitably means Twitter posts and Facebook status updates that probably generated some positive chatter about the brand.

All in all, a unique and quirky idea, that showed a true connection of the dots when it comes to the idea of “Have It Your Way.” Not sure how much longevity it has after the initial novelty would wear off, but it’s still a rather cool and smart approach on a one-off level.

Tags: consumer engagement, food, fun

Posted in Technology, Thinking | 160 Comments »

Things are Heating Up

February 4th, 2010 by Julie Hill

If you claim to know of a classier Chili Trophy Statue, you are a liar.

YES, it is that time again, folks. Time for the annual HyperQuake Chili Cookoff, an epic interoffice competition with high gastronomical and personal-pride stakes. The fridge is filled, the Crock Pots are plugged in, one developer has somehow ALREADY needed a Tide Pen. For non-Cincinnatian readers, what you need to know is: this area of the Midwest is obsessed with chili. When asking a native what there is to do in this town, invariably they will say, “You HAVE to go to Skyline/Gold Star/Camp Washington Chili” etc. Try it.

whhhhhuuuuUUUUUUUH??

Being a non-native vegetarian, I can be pretty ho-hum about chili, but last year featured several no- or faux-meat items that basically blew my face off with delicious, not to mention unusual items like the chili cake pictured above. (SPOILER: This year someone made chili ice cream…what!)

Additional arsenal

Prizes will be awarded in the form of trophies denoting “Overall Best Taste,” “Best Not-So-Chili” and “Weirdest Freakin’ Thing.” Mmmmm…weird.

Tags: around the office, food, local interest

Posted in News | 248 Comments »

Home of the…. Budweiser?

January 26th, 2010 by Chris Strong

Winner of the Biggest Duh Innovation Trophy

So, Burger King has decided that many Americans, specifically those in the South Beach region, want to crack open a tall, cold one when they sit down to eat their Whoppers. Hey, who can blame them?

As such, they’ve confirmed they’ll be opening a ‘Whopper Bar’ where you can get your drink on Budweiser and Bud Light style. Looks like they may open a few elsewhere around the county, in fitting cities like Vegas and NYC, but I’m struggling to figure out why South Beach to get started.

Regardless, looks like you might be able to get some new toppings on your Whopper too, but no word as to whether or not they’ll use some of those brewskis to make you beer-battered onion rings or beer battered-french fries.

So what does this all mean for the Burger King of the future and where they go next? I could foresee The King running a high end, exclusive, bottle service only night club featuring his own premium blend vodka, champagne and of course, Whoppers.

Tags: alcohol, food

Posted in News | 437 Comments »