Maximilian Gravenstein. No. It should be Maximillionaire Gravenstein. Its a little longer, longer than it already is, but I'd be totally good with that.
That's right folks, I should be a millionaire but I was cheated by the chip. Lay's Potato Chips. I did them a favor by giving them a flavor idea. And they took it from me.
Lay's has a potato chip flavor of the wavy variety out right now called Greek Tzatziki. This flavor is a part of their Lay's Passport to Flavor promotion. During Lay's Do Us A Flavor promotion in early 2014 I submitted Tzatziki as a flavor.
I don't have a million dollars. So I did a little investigating.
By investigation I mean I made one phone call.
"Your call may be monitored for quality assurance"
[elevator music plays softly]
*10 seconds later*
[music stops]
- Customer service, my name is [I forgot the name] how can I help you?
- Yeah hi, I think you guys have a Tzatziki flavor out right now
- That's correct. We do.
- So in 2014 I created a Tzatziki flavor for Do Us a Flavor and nothing happened. What do I do?
- Do you mind holding?
- No not at all.
- Let me check on that for you.
[Elevator music plays softly]
*3 minutes later*
[music stops]
- Are you still there?
- Yes.
- Ok. So ... I just checked on it and it looks like you signed a contract when you submitted your flavor. Which said that if you weren't one of the finalists they have the right to use your idea in the future.
- So basically because I didn't win, they have the intellectual property of my idea and can make money off of it.
- Yup.
- Ok. I appreciate you looking into it *silent tears*
- Have a nice day
- You too *silent tears*
Wow. They played me. But not really, they used a perfectly legal contract that I didn't read. Today's immediate lesson is to READ the contract. Now this isn't just a pity party, I decided I would also try the flavor.
Just for reference: Tzatziki is a greek sauce made of yogurt, dill, cucumber, and garlic that you eat with grilled meats
I put the crispy, pleated, paper-thin chip onto my tongue. *CRUNCH* *MUNCH* *CRUNCH* I looked around pondering the flavor profiles. HMMMM! Its like sour cream and onion but less tangy and more flat. Cardboard with an aftertaste of cucumber and garlic. I get my sister to try one. She hates it. I get my mom to try one. She is overall meh about it. (My dad eats the whole bag)
2/3 is pretty good. I'm relieved to know that the family consensus for "my" flavor is unfavorable. I'm happy that Lay's won't make too much money off of it. And I also disproved their old slogan: no one can eat just one ... until now.
Wow this was a hilarious blog. Not only was the introduction great but it had my attention throughout. Your format is also much better now! I would definitely read this again. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis was so much fun to read. And don't worry, you aren't alone in hating that flavor. As a Greek (I'm 75%), I absolutely hate this flavor. My mom brought it home one day ecstatic because she thought they'd be good (she loves them, the rest of my family hates them). I guess the only way to truly appreciate tzatziki is to eat the real thing.
ReplyDeleteI was entertained and enlightened throughout the whole post! It has a great hook and humerous style, yet culminates to an informational piece of advice. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post because it was very easy to read and follow along with. It was clear and to the point while still including enough details to capture the attention of the audience. Nice job!!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me feel like I should read the contracts more often and it was very interesting. I liked how you incorporated the phone call instead of just explaining it.
ReplyDeleteWow cool story! I like the way you structured this post with the phone conversation and how you tied it into the lesson on always reading contracts. It's still an awesome idea for a chip flavor either way :)
ReplyDeleteThis post was hilarious! I liked how it had a useful lesson in there too, and how you maintain a very personal and conversational tone throughout. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete