Rachael Ray's Trisciut Advertisement

[jenniebnyc]

I know she herself claims she is not a chef, but are you kidding me with these Triscuit recipes. Seriously, would anyone with a hint of cooking sense really make such stuff on a cracker.

If you have, do tell how it tasted and what sort of event you made it for?

[dinwiddie]

So Nabisco decides to pay RR a lot of money to make the commercials. Of course we all feel that RR sold out and should have said no way. Yeah right. They paid, she made the commercials, and that's why she has lots more money than we do. I guess it is better than haveing to listen to her husband's band every day.

[kobetobiko]

Believe it or not, RR was given a talkshow because the daughter of the network head (forgot his name) likes RR's show. The kid likes RR because "she is always happy". May be RR is the most appealing to our next generation!

[ColoradoFun]

I like triscuts and I like Rachael Ray. If I had Racheal Ray on a triscut my life would be complete. Maybe with a nice Pinot Grigio?

Yummo

[EclecticEater]

RR continues to mystify me. Maybe she hits the right note for MittleAmerica. On the other hand I know wives who pour mushroom soup over string beans and top it all with canned fried onions; probably more of them than anyone else; so ordinariness rules. Not everyone wants to know why things work, ala Elton Brown (?), or pizzazz like Emeril, or has the cleavage of that lovely lady with finely manicured nails. So Rachel rules her own domain, obviously.

[Griller]

Fellow,chowhounds...
21st Century American society shamelessly supports the Cult of Personality! That's where the money is. Entertainment, Sports, Business, the Arts, are a promotional wonderland. Excoriating someone who achieves success by self-promotion is disingenuous.

[jfood]

OK, so we can assume that noone here rushed out to buy her cookware and place it next to their Emerilware. Good. I watch her show every now and then and smile at some of what she does. If i pick up one tip in the 30 minutes I am glad, heh you never know. But she is hitting a niche market w 30 minute meals for the 2-worker family as an alternative to KFC Bucket for $9.

But sometimes I wish she would do a crazy glue commercial for her lips and yes she does hit a nerve. Thank God I control the clicker. Am i upset about her selling Tris crackers, I couldn;t care less.

Let her make as much money as she can and move on, so we can get the next "bubbly" hostess.

[FAL]

Hey Rachel is cool . She Is young and bright (kinda cute too) . Plus at the right place at the right time. Even though she is no high end Chef. Hey if I was given a shot like this I would run with it also.She is pulling in $$$$$$$$$$$. Plus she makes cooking what it should be fast and simple and ez. Blame Oprha she is the one who move her into regular TV. Leave Rachel alone .
PS . Does anyone know how long it takes to make minute rice ?

[NovoCuisine]

lol..

[HillJ]

By now we all know that FN has made a huge second tier out of personality endorsements. RR is just a new example. BAM man...was a hard one for me...the guy was constantly on air.

It's hard to always know who is a trained chef and who is just a lucky stiff but the FN fan base is buying every widget tied to the brand...don't you expect to see more of everything...more shows, more personalities, more cross promotions, and most def. more products for sale.!

I can't find fault with the lucky guy/gal living their food lifestyle/dream or the company smart enuf to package it. As consumers of consumption...we can close our wallets at any time.

[Andiereid]

We can also turn off the televisons! The guys at the gym complain constantly about the news, for example, but there it is. On. All the time. You don't HAVE to watch.

[HillJ]

Well said, I couldn't agree more...and yet discussion does require some exposure to the medium being discussed, yes?

[MikeLM]

Trader Joe's offers a cracker identical to Triscuits for about 60% of the supermarket price. I wouldn't be suprised if they got 'em made by Triscuit.

Mike

[Seldomsated]

I doubt that they are made by Nabisco - and they aren't really as good. Triscuits also come in low-fat and low-salt versions - what I really want is both low-fat and low-salt!

[MobyRichard]

The garlic ones aren't bad.

[prunefeet]

Have you tried them? Are they the same?

[jenniebnyc]

Here's a link to the recipes.

I just wouldn't put her recipes on a cracker. Maybe french/italian bread, tortilla chips, etc. Guacamole on a cracker...just weird. And the most ANNOYING thing about the recipes is that they use her famous abbreviation EVOO...ugh!!!!

http://www.nabiscoworld.com/holiday06...

[blue room]

Didn't Sandy Duncan do an ad for Wheat Thins at one time? I remember her saying "one after another, after another, after.."

[HillJ]

She sure did!

[krushdnasty]

Sometimes I watch food network in the lunch room. I hate rachael ray. as a former waiter all I can notice when she gets her 40$/day schitck going on is how much the servers get screwed. She will order an extra item, say a cappucino, instead of giving the waiter his due. Its just shameful that she is able to get by on $40 by shafting the lowly working folks.

Seriously evil. And now triscuits? I love triscuits. I don't want my lovely woven wheat cracker debased by her association.

[blue room]

RR doesn't bother me, in my heart I know she knows more about cooking than I, but I've seen this $40 show, and a tip is always included--is she not leaving a correct tip?

[NovoCuisine]

The example she sets for an acceptable tip on that show is atrocious.

[blue room]

I never did the math--but I'll pay attention next time. Does she use a certain percentage each time?

[krushdnasty]

thats what bothers me. she doesn't use a certain percentage from what I have seen (Although I haven't tooooo many episodes). It would seem random, but perhaps the only immediately apparent (to me) logic employed by RR when selecting a tip is "can I get another cheapie item to flaunt to the good folks at home instead of tipping properly?".

Because she clearly does price her meals out including tip at the beginning when she is ordering. Its not based on service or informative waitstaff or hot food hot and cold food cold type of stuff. Its just totally contrived. Normal diners don't consider the tip when ordering... how many of you have thought: "Well, if I order the souffle the tip will really set me back!"? Prolly no one.

btw... It may be my imagination, but does anyone else think that the waitstaff are cringing when they serve her?

oh yeah. and you can't "do the math" unless you know the local tax rates. From what I have seen, she lists a "tax and tip" portion of the bill, which is just a sneaky underhanded way to screw the workaday folk without exposing it to the public. If you figure that local taxes are around 5-10% then you begin to get an idea of the magnitude of malfeasance.

[Nalega]

I only bothered to do the math once, and it looked like 15% to me... maybe it varies, but that time it looked resonable...

[deibu]

Supposedly I've heard that in reality they leave a more significant tip than what is shown as the tip left.

[gloriousfood]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if she leaves a "pretend" tip just to make the $40 limit and off camera, she leaves a much larger tip. The one time I caught her talk show, she did a whole segment on organizations around the country (City Harvest, etc.) that feed the hungry. She also contributes herself to certain orgs. I, for one, do not hate RR and I think it's great that she is where she is today. Yeah, she's not a chef; she's a cook (as she repeatedly says--and I agree!) and she does have a grating voice and a frenetic style, but man, to start from virtually nowhere to building the empire that she is today, how can you not admire that!

[Griller]

Here, here.
Rachel Ray is okay!

[blue room]

I think that *anyone* who appears on TV, especially if they say even 1 word, is paid at a certain rate, because the Screen Actors Guild, an entertainment industry union, calls for union wages. (I'm no insider, just repeating what I've read in the past!) So the waitpersons you see on "$40.." are not getting stiffed. Also, this whole show is set up, the servers are volunteers or handpicked, no one is cringing, there are cameras and lights and rehearsals and probably more than one "take", it isn't as real and spur-of-the moment as it looks. Several hours of work probably result in the few minutes we see. I think she leaves a tip that the usual tourist in that particular restaurant might typically leave, 15 - 20%? RR herself is rich and famous and probably leaves lovely big tips in her real life.

[AnneM]

I'm not a fan of RR. I find her laugh soooo annoying.
I think that her popularity is because she cooks plain, ordinary stuff...certainly not gourmet. Most folks are not fancy cooks. I know I do quick ordinary meals during the week.

[ArtemisNYC]

I don't see anything wrong with a food personality pitching a product. If that's what they want to do, hey, good for them.

Still, Rachel Ray is all over the place now. It must be stopped! Her recipes don't annoy me, but that shrill presenting style... shudder.

[nicolars]

Rachel Ray isn't exactly one of the world's great chefs, so I don't see the big deal over this. It's not like Daniel Boulud bigging up Triscuits.

[NovoCuisine]

I've been lol'ing at "Daniel Boulud bigging up" ;)

[SarahEats]

Re: putting things on crackers. I don't put things on top of crackers, but I do use Ritz crackers in a stuffed mushroom recipe that's a mainstay in my husband's family. IMO, it makes them taste much better than ones that call for breadcrumbs.

As for RR endorsing Triscuits, what can I say? The woman is everywhere these days!

[rumgum]

That reminds me... I did see something on TV long ago where Ritz was used as the breading for fish sticks.

[Jesdamala]

I could swear it is RR, well her voice, or a sound alike, selling Pizza Hut on TV on the West Coast..or one of the pizza chains.

[Dee S]

I believe that is Queen Latifah!

[choctastic]

same difference

[prunefeet]

LOLOLOL!! Wow.

[rumgum]

I think there are a lot of people who do make things to top Triscuit and Ritz crackers. Haven't there been commercials of the sorts without celebrity endorsement? I'm sure there are even contests for the best cracker topper. There's obviously a market for the stuff. Rachel Ray isn't the first one (with or without cooking sense) to invent such a recipe.

Having said that, I hate Triscuits. No topping can save it.

[lvecch]

I haven't seen the ad, but I do love Triscuits - especially the new rye flavor. I eat 'em plain.

[ESNY]

All a delicious Triscuit needs is some hot sauce.

[lvecch]

Sounds good - hot sauce makes everything better!

[prunefeet]

Yeah, I think triscuits are really good, the lowfat ones are almost as good as the original, and the rosemary are very nice. Of course hotsauce does improve just about anything. I had three toasted flour tortillas filled with cholula hotsauce last night for dinner...

[Atomica]

I remember a big Ritz ad campaign with Andy Griffith. "Everything tastes better when it s*its on a Ritz."

[laylag]

I had a male friend in college and Ritz was his last name. He had that slogan on his dorm room door. : )

[krushdnasty]

really? I believe that Atomica was being gracious by substituting an asterik (*) for what I'm assuming was originally the letter "H" in that phrase. Correct me if I'm wrong, but such a slogan might not be considered self complementary. In fact, givin the proclivities of college folks, it might result in some serious consequences! ;-P

[laylag]

Yes it could. No, the Ritz I know wasn't into that. His door said "sits".

[Atomica]

Of course it was "sits." It was wholesome Andy Griffith. But it was almost as annoying as the current "Head On Head On Head On" commercials, so of course one had to change the slogan to stay sane.

[prunefeet]

And Jimmy Stewart or someone that sounded JUST like him advertising Home Cooking soups.

[Mimi]

One thing I have noticed about RR's show is that her staff goes to the incredible trouble of making bogus labels for all the food products she uses. Not a single brand name in sight. (Am I the only one to notice this?)So I guess she was "saving herself" until the right opportunity for endorsement came along. Guess the girl is grabbing her 15 minutes of fame. The clock is ticking (I hope).

[amkirkland]

that's the case for all of the food network shows, it's just that she has more things out where you would expect to see the labels. Ok.. I admit it, i watched the Food Network Unwrapped special.

[chowser]

Food Network employs people to create fake labels for products. It's not uncommon for celebrities, networks, movies to do it. Companies pay a lot for product placement.

[S U]

there's also trademark/copyright issues... I think they have to pay in order to show a certain brand/product; unless there's a deal with the company for marketing purposes.

[laylag]

It's not a trademark/copyright infringement issue, it's a common sense business issue. Most companies would kill for the free advertising and positive image they'd get from being used by the FN hosts/chefs. As Chowser said, companies pay for product placement. FN and many of their hosts aren't going to it away for free. After all, why buy the cow...

[Vexorg]

If that's the case, how do game shows do it then? If you watch an episode of The Price is Right or another similar show, you'll find that a lot of small prize and grocery products have "generic" descriptions, although they are still clearly labeled brand name products. If a product is named specifically, it's a paid sponsorship, if not, there isn't any sponsorship in place.

[hotoynoodle]

once i saw rachel ray make hot dog nachos. hot dog nachos. who cares what she does, honestly? lol.

[chef chicklet]

Never made an appetizer on a triscuit or any other sort, i.e. ritz cracker etc. for that matter, Not that I find them not any good, I just wouldn't think to do so.

She (RR) is marketing herself while she can. And speaking of marketing oneself, it seems that since Emeril opened that door or was it Wolfgang Puck(I have and dearly love his convection oven, panini maker, etc.), there are more and more tv /chef celebs doing it.

I once read or maybe it was during an interview, that Julia Child never endorsed any product, and if I'm wrongand which I'm sure I'll soon be informed if I am, then I admire her that she didn't. It seems that these many of the celeb chefs are trying to "make hay while the sun is shining". I guess ultimately there's nothing wrong with that other than I (my own opinion) see it as a bit "tacky" to endorse a triscuit cracker.

Wait a minute I love George Foreman, but hey he's not a "chef".

[amkirkland]

The sopranos people are marketing the foods of a completely fictional person.

[kare_raisu]

Did you forget that TF is pitching for Applebee's?

[Atomica]

It seems completely "in character" for RR to me.