This is just a quick scratch-my-head post about product labels. The Boss Hog Italian Sausage Screamin’ Sicilian pizza is nothing to puzzle over and it tells the unvarnished, unambiguous truth. This is just our opinion, of course and you’ll have to judge yourself.
The Screamin’ Sicilian Boss Hog box says it has “boulder size” Italian sausage pieces in it. Hey, I’m fine with exaggeration. All marketers do that and it show a sense of humor. Sena and I tried it and we both gave it a thumbs up. The pizza tastes great over-all and you can actually taste the fat sausages. The product lives up to the label and doesn’t confuse us.
Now take mayonnaise labels. These are from Hellmann’s and Kraft. They both say their products are “Made with Cage Free Eggs.”
Okay, I’m not sure I get the “Cage Free Eggs” thing. I think labels that make me scratch my head are interesting but sometimes a little annoying. First of all, I get hung up on the idea of how an egg can be “cage free.” I know the advertisers are talking about dirt-scratching, pecking, clucking chickens—but the image of the egg takes over the message.
I had no problems when I first heard the phrase “free range chicken” even if I was not sold on all the health benefits claimed. But then, as I was doing my “research” on the internet about this, I came across the term “free range eggs.”
Sorry, but that makes no more sense to me than “cage free eggs.”
So, help me, these terms just lead to comical images of eggs rolling in a nonchalant oval way around the barnyard. It reminds me of the style of Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoons. One collection of his published cartoons is entitled, “The Chickens Are Restless.” I’m not sure, but I think I actually owned a copy years ago.
The boulder-size sausages claimed by Screamin’ Sicilian doesn’t faze me because I know it’s a joke.
But somehow, I don’t get it when the mayo people say things like “cage free eggs” or “free range eggs.” That’s because I suspect the image the terms evoke were not intended by the advertising department.
You’re welcome to share your opinion about this crucial, clucking issue of our times in the comment section.
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