I don't bother chasing mice around

Are people really this dumb?

The Snale in action, complete with bouncing dogs

What’s up, y’all!

Spent the weekend in the woods again. A couple of guys organized a McGrew trail run, so of course we were in, especially since the trail ends near our favorite spot to camp. It was delightful, and this year we got to share it with some new friends.

But let me tell you what has really been on my mind this week: Meow Mix. Well, not Meow Mix exactly, but the downfall of human civilization. Meow Mix merely pointed out to me that we’re headed there.

I am guilty of binge-watching old seasons of Leverage from time to time. I am also cheap, which means I have to watch commercials in exchange for access to the episodes. I don’t usually watch them, but this week, one caught my eye.

My brain broke slightly afterwards. Maybe that was their plan, I’m not sure. Surely, I thought, people are not so dumb that this type of advertising works? Cat food does appear at the end of the video, otherwise I wouldn’t even know what it was a commercial for.

It doesn’t extol the virtues of the product it’s selling. Instead, it has terrifying dancing cats and some dude who was in a boy band 25 years ago.

Have we really reverted from using logic when making purchases to buying whatever product has the best song and dance?

Meow Mix could be snake oil, but the salesman has misdirected your attention with entertaining banter.  

I mean, who cares how good it works (or even IF it works) if people are willing to buy it because they were entertained? It made me wonder about the company behind the product. Who are they and do they care more about making profits than making a quality product?

I shouldn’t have gone down that rabbit hole.

It turns out Meow Mix has been passed from giant corporation to giant corporation more than once. It currently belongs to the J. M. Smucker Company. In addition to Smucker’s Jelly, Meow Mix, and others, they also own:

• Folgers

• Dunkin’

• Carnation

• Eagle Brand

• Jif

• Canine Carry Outs

• Milk-Bone

• Pupperoni

• Robin Hood

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something that feels a little bit uncomfortable about one company ultimately being in control of so many different food sources for people and pets. Something to do with putting all your eggs in one basket, maybe.

We here at snale racing try our best to shop locally and not from giant corporations, but they are slowly squeezing the mom-and-pops out until there are no other choices. We don’t shop at Walmart, Costco, or Amazon, and you would be amazed at how hard just skipping those three stores makes it to find things.

I’d like to see us head back towards a more community-based marketplace, where individuals (and their businesses) can buy and sell directly from each other. And we could totally use this new thing they invented called the internet to help individuals sell to each other when they’re not local to each other.

If all of your supplies come down the same pipeline, you’ll have a hard time when the pipeline gets blown up. Just saying.

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So it was no surprise to find out that a giant corporation owned Meow Mix, but I hadn’t reached the bottom of the rabbit hole yet.

I was also curious who made the commercial itself. Meow Mix outsourced the job, sort of. At the top level, The J. M. Smucker Company made an agreement with the Publicis Groupe, a worldwide marketing firm. According to their website, they have over 16,000 employees in 110 countries, and their clients not only include Smucker, but also Cartier, Heineken, L’Oreal, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, and, of course, Walmart.

Publicis Groupe took over all of Smucker’s marketing, including that stellar example from Meow Mix. It appears that dumb commercials don’t just sell cat food - Smucker reported that after this new campaign, net sales increased 11% to $1.97 billion. In one quarter.

How many marketing campaigns are you exposed to in a single day that originate from this one company? Let’s hope they never decide to take over the world, for they excel at selling snake oil.

Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I’m bothered on two fronts. One, that a company with so much influence over our food choices cares more about profit than people. Though that’s not as surprising as the other half of the equation that bothers me: it still has customers that support it.

And now the word Barbenheimer has entered my vocabulary. Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you if you went and saw either movie, no judgment here. Just don’t spoil Oppenheimer for me, it’ll be a while before it’s available to watch for free with commercials!😁

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Video of the Week

gnob gets into the details on how to replace bushings.

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Quote of the Week

That wraps up another week with Snale Racing! We’ll leave you with the quote that was most powerful for us this week. Peace!✌

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