Balance of Food

Ranking food Super Bowl LVI ads

Avocados from Mexico is on a better track compared to recent Super Bowl ads. The ancient tailgating scene was a highlight from Super Bowl LVI ads.

While the ads overall were lackluster, there were some decent food-related Super Bowl ads in 2022.

Super Bowl LVI finally gave Andy Richter a chance to be in an Avocados from Mexico Super Bowl ad. Richter, as Julius Caesar, is the only recognizable personality in this truly old-school tailgating scene.

Richter had a fake rant on Conan in 2018 about how avocados didn't need to advertise in the Super Bowl, how they didn't have any competition.

The Andy Richter of 2018 is more correct than the Richter of 2022. The end of the ad with Richter as Julius Caesar was really odd. Avocados in salads is a nice idea, though not in a Caesar salad. 

Avocados can sell themselves but the company has struggled to do that lately.  

Shoppers in some parts of the United States are not finding the avocados (from anywhere) to be as good lately. Avocados from a couple of years would be a welcome sight.

Seth Rogen teamed up with Paul Rudd for the Lay's Golden Memories ad. The chips ended up in past memories the two friends had before the wedding for Rogen's character.

The characterization made Lay's chips seem cooler than the brand's usual image. Basic chips are now not so basic.

We also covered this ad for our Canadian sibling blog, CanadianCrossing.com.

Ranking food and drink Super Bowl LV ads

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Hellman's had a really nice message about reducing food waste and how the actual product can help this growing problem. Jerod Mayo tackled his way into "explaining" why food waste is a problem. Pete Davidson is the opposite of mayonnaise, which might help and hurt the image of mayonnaise.

Hellmann's and Best Foods are the same product with Best Foods being the name west of the Rocky Mountains. You run into the same issue with Carl's Jr. and Hardee's where the ads run under the Carl's Jr. name.

Flamin' Hot snacks have been popular in certain markets so seeing the genre advertised on a larger scale is a bit surprising. The Doritos product, which somehow combines flamin' hot and cool ranch, is rather confusing.

We often point out where the product can't live up to the advertising. This might be an ad that brings down the product. The animals are so excited to eat junk food that they incorporate the old school song Push It from Salt-N-Pepa.

This is the worst food ad for Super Bowl LVI: sad more than anything else. People in the board room must have been afraid to criticize the ad. Not the worst ad on the night but the money could have been better spent.

The Taco Bell ad involves clowns who lose their makeup and outfits to have late night fun. This is the opposite issue from the Doritos ad. Great ad because they didn't show off the lousy product.

This was a vibrant, colorful ad that looked like people were having fun. This was creative, thoughtful, interesting. If you watch fast food ads from ancient times (40-45 years ago), they talk about how great the food is. Taco Bell knows if you are in Taco Bell, you have low standards, especially if you are sober.

Pringle's had its best ad in ages, which is a very low bar. The obsession with buying several flavors and building stacks is hopefully out of their system. The ad has fun with the canister design, which is a playful way of saying, "we are different from the competition." A Super Bowl ad should make that distinction.

They are technically potato crisps instead of potato chips, but they fall into the snack category.

BalanceofFood.com advertising coverage

Honorable mention goes to a promo during the game for NFL.com/Play60 to get digital resources to get kids eating healthy and moving.

The healthy eating part appears to be an effort with America's Dairy Farmers to get kids to eat cheese sticks and drink milk. Yes, kids need protein for growing bodies. They could eat real cheese, yogurt, and whole milk without added high-fructose corn syrup.

photo credit: Avocados from Mexico
video credits: the companies themselves; Conan/TBS

Bone marrow done at home: a most unusual breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but most days is entirely forgettable. When planning an extraordinary menu of food for my latest birthday, I struggled to find something different and tasty for breakfast.

I had the Good Eats episode Marrow Minded in my head for a different reason. Cutting expenses is crucial these days. The idea of eating bone marrow in a restaurant was very tempting yet expensive. Could I actually follow what the episode said to prepare bone marrow at home.

I was considering a snack of bone marrow for the birthday in case going out would be a struggle (the curse of a winter birthday). After all, the first pandemic birthday of 2021 was a nightmare for different reasons.

The bone marrow for breakfast idea came out of using a spreadsheet for the eating possibilities. I put bone marrow in the breakfast slot and never changed it out.

Alton Brown's idea for cooking the pipes was terribly impractical. Not having an outdoor grill, much less access to one, much less access in the middle of winter: that wasn't going to work.

Alton Brown's idea for cooking the canoes was clever and practical. Using aluminum foil to balance out the bones was helpful.

Pipes run vertical and require a marrow spoon or even a letter opener (talk about multitaskers) to get out the marrow. Canoes run horizontal and access to the fat is really easy.

I have an excellent meat market so getting the bones was the easy part of the exercise. I also had access to day-old local bread that toasts up really well.

Here is what I did not do:

• Alton Brown suggests brining the bones. My bones were too long for a container. Maybe that would have made a huge difference in taste.
• Brown made a combination of the 2 suggested salads to go with the dish. Looked good but this was too much work for my birthday, especially when I was the chef. The idea was to cut the richness of the fat yet I wanted that richness to stand out.

These were marvelous ideas if you have the time/need/space to do this.

My aluminum foil attempt still produced some leakage of fat from the bones. I did create a 2-layer system of foil so it kept the fallen fat safe.

The marrow can be in large chunks when removing the fat from the marrow. Give yourself time to spread this thinner on the bread. Your patience will be rewarded: an Alton Brown common phrase.

Do not think you are cooking too much toast. I wondered if I was cooking too much toast and it was not. Marrow can go a long way on toast.

Your house will smell wonderful for some time after you cook. That was the best my kitchen had smelled in a very long time.

A simple breakfast of bone marrow and sourdough toast might seem too simple. I thought of adding bacon, since everything goes with bacon. I was glad I did not add bacon. The prize was the marrow and toast. I should have added a finishing salt but forgot.

The only accompaniment was a glass bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola with cane sugar. Not normally a breakfast item but this was not a typical breakfast.

You deserve better than 'birthday cake' flavored anything

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Cost: Was surprised that a nice amount of bone marrow cost $8.40, tax included. Figure $1.50 for the bread and $1.25 for the soft drink. You could get a fancier meal having brunch in a restaurant but not one as satisfying as what I made at home.

I hadn't considered the idea of bone marrow at home until Alton Brown mentioned this in his show. That sounds pathetic to me but factor in a lot of cooking that seems unsure and life can be "safer" to not try.

Bone marrow is getting popular but has been around for a long time. If we want nose to tail, bone marrow is a tasty way to live out that philosophy.

That breakfast was one to remember. These food memories are some of the best-treasured moments from my life. Creating one without having to travel beyond a few miles is important when traveling is difficult.

photos credit: me