The other day, I got a press release that serves as a case study in trying to trick potential customers. Hellmann's (or Best Foods for those on this side of the country) has partnered with Yahoo! Food in a campaign they call The Search For Real Food.
Hellmann's. Real Food. No, I just can't make the math work. I don't have a problem with Hellmann's as a food product—none apart from a general stance against flavorless, chemical-laden industrial foods, anyway—but is there any food less real than the preservative-laden spread? Just as megaproducers have co-opted the terms organic and natural and the bucolic imagery they conjure, Hellmann's has tied itself to a term that has traction among modern shoppers. Even if they don't approve or edit the content—and I assume they do—every visitor to that site will conflate Hellmann's and real food. At the very least, they'll believe that Hellmann's actually cares about it.
The PR person who sent me the link mentioned that they'd be looking for good "real food" blog posts to highlight. Here's my recommendation: how to make your own mayonnaise at cookingforengineers.com. Taste the real thing, and you'll wonder how anyone considers Hellmann's to be mayonnaise. The real sauce is a snap to make, especially if you use a food processor. It only keeps for a week in the refrigerator, instead of the months and months that Hellmann's will hold up, but which expiration date sounds more like real food?
