Prego Pivots From Budget-Tier Pasta Sauce to Small Microphones That Listen to Your Family's Intimate Conversations
https://futurism.com/future-society/prego-pivots-pasta-sauce-microphone
https://futurism.com/future-society/prego-pivots-pasta-sauce-microphone
58 Comments
scytale@piefed.zip · 161 pts · 121d
I thought at first it’s a pivot to AI like what AllBirds did, but:
So it’s essentially just a $20 audio recorder? Still a weird product from a pasta brand.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 42 pts · 121d
I'm 90% sure it's not to actually be used. It's to make people post about it online and have their brand pop up. It's a product that requires no R&D and they can create a nice story of their product connecting families. It's good marketing honestly. It's got people talking about it here at least without even realizing they're sharing an ad.
Eric@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 121d
Is it any weirder than the Barilla x Arduino collab?
https://blog.arduino.cc/2022/10/12/barilla-and-arduino-this-is-not-your-grandmas-pasta/
FlyingCircus@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 121d
Is there a HailCorporate comm? Maybe we can start one for Lemmy, just without the crypto-scammer mods this time.
limelight79@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 120d
Every time someone mentioned any brand name on reddit, some idiot screeched "r/hailcorporate", like it was some kind of gotcha. I wonder if the guy here on Lemmy that was removing artists' signatures from comics was one of them.
Someone would ask for advice, you'd say, I had a good experience with this item, and the "r/hailcorprate" shills would show up.
FlyingCircus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 120d
I appreciated those “idiots.” We live in a tyrannical consumerist hellscape. Anybody trying to break us out of that is a hero in my eyes.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 115d
That's a BINGO!
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 40 pts · 121d
And not even good cheap pasta sauce. Store brands are often times much much better for half to almost a quarter of the price.
deathbird@mander.xyz · 17 pts · 121d
In my experience store brands are maybe 75% the price of Prego, and comparable quality. It's not high end but it's also not vastly overpriced. Maybe $3-4 a jar vs $2-3 for store brand, or $7-10 for the fancy brands.
Peasley@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 121d
i really dislike Prego: too sweet for me and the flavor is weak
my grocery store has nice canned San Marzano-type tomatoes for about $4 for a big can. Enough to make maybe 2 jars of sauce.
You need to add your own herbs, spices, and simmer a bit but the end result is generally as good as the $10/jar fancy brands. I keep a fancy brand jar in the cupboard in case i don't have time, but i try to simmer my own sauce as often as possible
My go-to herbs are coyote mint, yerba buena (Clinopodium), Mexican oregano (Lippia) and california bay leaf. i will also throw in some toasted garlic and some hard cheese when on hand
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 121d
yeah it's ketchup.
if I have to buy a sauce because I don't have time to make some, it's newman's own sockarooni.
deathbird@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 120d
There are varieties made with little or even no sugar.
I respect the DIY sauce game, but my point was that if you're buying pre-made sauce it's neither pricey nor necessarily loaded with sugar.
Peasley@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 120d
Which ones? Every single Prego variety at my local grocer has added sugar. It's not good sauce
there might be inexpensive brands without added sugar but if they exist they aren't available in my grocery store. The "store brand" at my local grocer is on the expensive side, like $8/jar, but it's very good
My grocery store is within walking distance of my apartment, and i live in a very very car-centric region, so i'd much rather go there than drive to say a Costco
deathbird@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 118d
I guess it does depend a little bit on the grocery store. I'm more accustomed to seeing store brand price range comparable to Aldi, aka $1.50 for the bottom range for the varieties that have added sugar, and $2 and up for the "authentic" or organic varieties that don't have it.
As for Prego, well I'm probably actually thinking of Ragu at the moment but they have "Simply" or "Kettle" or "Homemade" or authentic or organic styles that don't have added sugar. Not sure remembering all the right names for them, but having sauce without added sugars something that people seek out a lot easier so it makes sense that brands try to varieties to accommodate that market niche.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 121d
I get great value and best choice(?) and they beat the crap out of not only prego but some other higher end pasta sauces as well. Especially great value. I was super surprised by them. And they are like $1.50 vs $4-6 for the various prego and analogs. And I actually think the great value is better than most premiums in the ~$10 range. Carbone might be the one that is hands and fists above all others.
deathbird@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 120d
Great Value is Walmart and I just won't shop there. I can say I notice little difference (in a good way) between lower end brand names like Ragu or Prego and various store brands. I just don't see the price difference as much though. Maybe a dollar's difference. I'm still a store brand buyer, but I'm more price sensitive than taste sensitive on the question.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 120d
You're not wrong about avoiding Walmart as best you can. But I live in their home territory, so it's that or Kroger, and Kroger donates big to trump and have a history of union hostility. So it's really a push for me until a locally owned place pops up.
deathbird@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 118d
At least Kroger has a union to be hostile to!
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 121d
The cheapest pasta sauce is fine as long as you’re willing to fix it. More garlic, spices, salt, cooking down, or adding water. The solution varies.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 121d
I dare you to try great value marinara just as it is straight out the bottle. I may add some garlic to it and maybe some red pepper flakes from a pizza place that didn't get used on the pizza, but the shit is awesome unadulterated.
But you are absolutely right, and I tend to put a little cayenne and fresh ground black pepper in anything I cook.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 121d
I can’t, tomatoes make me die :(
But I’m not one to reject a dare so I’ll go borrow a bit from a nei
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 121d
Please don't. Although it's pretty good, it's not really worth the risk.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 121d
You’re right, and I was just joking. Enjoy tomatoes double-hard for me! They used to be my favorite, until they turned on me.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 121d
I will eat a whole fresh one right now with some Tony C's
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 115d
Buy a couple of cans of crushed tomatoes, toss in some garlic powder, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and simmer for a long time. Add browned ground beef and/or mushrooms. Maybe a few ounces of red wine. Add some red pepper flakes if you want it spicy.
It will be better than any sauce you can buy.
Almacca@aussie.zone · 13 pts · 121d
Pretty sure no-one puts the used jar of sauce on the table when they're eating.
halfapage@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 121d
Almacca@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 121d
Due to not looking carefully enough, I thought it was the actual jar lid. Derp. Turns out it's a separate product. I still can't see anyone using it, though.
halfapage@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 121d
BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 121d
Maybe that's what they think people like?
Art and life are a bit blurry here, what with all the marketing.
Carighan@piefed.world · 2 pts · 121d
It's ultra weird, although I guess I... could kinda see how someone wants to keep a diary of family dinner conversations?
You can just use your phone to record those of course, but a dedicated device might be easier to use. Since it's not cloud-connected and you transfer off of it manually anyways, fiiiiiiineee I guess? 🤷
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 119d
But does your phone recording get archived in the library of congress?
Imagine all the fun faked conversations people can have that can now be archived there.
CombatWombat@feddit.online · 34 pts · 121d
Okay, so Campbell's owns a bunch of brands: Campbell's, Prego, Swanson, Pace, Snyder's, and Pepperidge Farms. Campbell's could have used any brand to launch this product, so my biggest question is: why not under the Pepperidge Farms brand? Pepperidge Farms remembers would have been the perfect ad campaign for this launch.
Blackfeathr@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 121d
Remember when the VP of Campbell's made fun of poor people? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
Blander_Rurton@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 121d
Remember when we used to talk to each other at the dinner table? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 34 pts · 121d
This is kinda nothing?
Prego isn't "pivoting" they're releasing a one-off branded novelty product as a publicity stunt. Also, you worded this as alarmingly as possible when you didn't need to.
Edit: Sorry, the article worded the headline as alarmingly as possible. Didn't mean to shoot the messenger.
JayGray91@piefed.social · 3 pts · 121d
Yeah I was ready to bring out my pitchfork and light my torch, but this just seems like a weird product by a pasta sauce brand
Flagstaff@programming.dev · 0 pts · 121d
True, downvote the post until @return2ozma@lemmy.world changes it!Oh, never mind.Deebster@infosec.pub · 4 pts · 121d
The title here is just the one from the article. Lots of comms insist on that (too much faff to check if this one does since I'm on a phone).
return2ozma@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 120d
That's the exact title of the article
bss03@infosec.pub · 17 pts · 120d
Upvoted because the headline is funny, but it's not true or at least hyperbolic. The third paragraph in the article gives it away:
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 121d
I will continue to not buy their sauce
JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 121d
I agree. I don't wanna get prego either.
GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 120d
Misleading headline. Apparently, it's 100% offline, and if you wanna share your awkward dinner table small talk with the culture archivists at StoryCorps, you can by physically plugging it in and manually uploading it.
This is still weird. But it's a little more wholesome than what I expected.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 119d
Yeah, though I would say that I don't follow their line of thought in how it will result in more connected families less distracted by devices during dinner. It neither prevents anyone from using a device along with it nor gives any reason to connect more.
If anything, I could see this making some people want to perform during dinner if they intend to upload the recording for social media likes. Which I guess could increase connection, but I would have hated dinner if my parents had wanted to do this when I was a kid.
daannii@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 121d
Wanna bet the CEO pitched this to chatgpt and it said it was a good idea. ?
MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 121d
What-- what is this title? It... It's not I don't believe it. I'm not in denial, I'm just thinking how did it start to get this chaotic. Bet if I went back to my 2016 self and said "in the future our lids will spy on us and AI will replace out jobs" I'd be shocked, probably not even believing myself.
bss03@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 120d
no pivot
foliumcreations@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 121d
My first and only interaction with Prego. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqrEEocY0fo
DisgruntledGorillaGang@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 119d
Why would you not just use a normal fucking voice recorder? Or the fucking phone you have in your pocket? Why this creepy-ass pasta-sauce branded device?
Jarix@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 121d
I actually kind of want one when playing Once Upon A Time. Assuming it has no wireless connectivity in any way
finalarbiter@piefed.social · -4 pts · 121d
JFC. Add that to the list of brands I'm not fucking buying anymore.
THEY MAKE TOMATO SAUCE. WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY TRYING TO SELL LITERAL WIRETAPS
Makhno@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 121d
Didn't even read the article, huh? Go back to reddit
finalarbiter@piefed.social · -4 pts · 121d
I did, but go off I guess. It's fucking creepy to put a recording device at the dinner table, regardless of whether it's a 'dumb' recording device or some bullshit slop device.
wolfkin@mastodon.social · 4 pts · 121d
@finalarbiter @return2ozma Hmm for the record the device itself seems fairly inoffensive. it doesn't have any wireless. It doesn't connect to the internet. You have to manually upload it to whatever website they want.
That said. That is a tape recorder. We already HAVE this technology. We don't gain anything in this except a non-unique form factor and the Prego/StoryCorps logo. Potentially it's even worse if you can't just get the raw audio files from the device and can only directly upload.
finalarbiter@piefed.social · 2 pts · 121d
I honestly don't care that it's 'just' a simple recording device. The basic concept is fucking creepy, especially if not everyone at your dinner table is on board or aware of the device's presence.
wolfkin@mastodon.social · 3 pts · 121d
@finalarbiter agreed. and just because it's a perfectly "offline" device now doesn't stop them from pointlessly iterating and adding features and subscriptions.
Allero@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 121d
It's not a wiretap, and it has no connectivity at all. Worth reading the full article.