I was mass-deleting e-mailed press releases the other day when I found something that was actually relevant to my interests.
To be honest, it sounded like a vision of hell. "The next time you walk down the sauce aisle at your favorite grocery store," said the press release, "the voices you hear might not be from fellow shoppers — they could be coming from products on the shelf."
I'd like to think not.
"Thanks to augmented reality, jars of Francesco Rinaldi Pasta Sauce can now talk directly to consumers who download an app called the Francesco Rinaldi AR APP. With this app, shoppers can simply point their smartphone at the iconic woman on the Francesco Rinaldi label and see her come to life."
Great. Another reason for someone's cart to block the aisle. "Could you move, please?" "Buzz off. I'm looking at an iconic woman come to life."
My first impression was that no one will ever do this. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'd love to talk to the spokesmascots. Here's an example.
Chef Boyardee recently brought out a "Throwback Lasagna" variety. It sounds like something inedible you get rid of as quickly as possible. Throw it back! But the term in modern slang means "historic." People have "throwback Thursday" on social media platforms and post a picture of a TV show from 2008 so they can feel like old, grizzled veterans of the culture.
Throwback Lasagna turns out to be the original recipe. You suspect the old stuff's better. Not because canned food from 1967 was all natural and healthy. In those days, labels said things like "Thalidomide Added (for Freshness)." But they didn't dump a cup of sugar in everything.