Shrimp Heaven Now
March 24, 2021 8:15 AM Subscribe
Jensen Karp, a comedian and writer, found something that did not belong in his bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch yesterday morning. Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or its social media team) has responded, and the Internet At Large is having a ball as the situation only grows weirder.
- CTC has asked that Karp deliver the box and its contents to his local police station
- Karp is married to Danielle Fishel, also known as Topanga from Boy Meets World
- the alleged shrimp is being DNA tested to determine if it is, in fact, shrimp
- this is not General Mills' first brush with shrimp problems
The NY Times is on the case. Vice highlights how CTC's response inarguably made things worse.
- CTC has asked that Karp deliver the box and its contents to his local police station
- Karp is married to Danielle Fishel, also known as Topanga from Boy Meets World
- the alleged shrimp is being DNA tested to determine if it is, in fact, shrimp
- this is not General Mills' first brush with shrimp problems
The NY Times is on the case. Vice highlights how CTC's response inarguably made things worse.
Thank you for making the Shrimp Heaven Now reference I kept not making my way to.
There's also a tertiary angle here of tea being spilled about credulity toward Karp, though as far as this specific situation that's all speculative. The possibility that a cereal company could have hugely own-goaled itself on social media for no reason as a prologue to a subsequent milkshake ducking is, in "how is this the world we live in" terms, sort of a tantalizing premise, in any case.
posted by cortex at 8:35 AM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
There's also a tertiary angle here of tea being spilled about credulity toward Karp, though as far as this specific situation that's all speculative. The possibility that a cereal company could have hugely own-goaled itself on social media for no reason as a prologue to a subsequent milkshake ducking is, in "how is this the world we live in" terms, sort of a tantalizing premise, in any case.
posted by cortex at 8:35 AM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
Literally not kosher.
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:48 AM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:48 AM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
Am I the only one who would be tempted to eat one? (a shrimp tail covered in cinnamon toast crunch)? Probably at least as tasty as fried coconut shrimp.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:48 AM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:48 AM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
If you sprinkle a little cayenne and salt CTC becomes a savory snack, so I can see it being paired with shrimp.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:50 AM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:50 AM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
You're welcome, cortex. Here's a bonus video of Lin Manuel Miranda singing the Shrimp Heaven Now song he wrote.
I will be disappointed but not surprised if it turns out to be fake. CTC's response of "oh, yeah, that's sugar, don't worry about it" is odd no matter what, but that they didn't go for "we think you made this up" is surprising. For now I'm riding a somewhat giddy high from the internet being fun again.
posted by punchtothehead at 8:53 AM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
I will be disappointed but not surprised if it turns out to be fake. CTC's response of "oh, yeah, that's sugar, don't worry about it" is odd no matter what, but that they didn't go for "we think you made this up" is surprising. For now I'm riding a somewhat giddy high from the internet being fun again.
posted by punchtothehead at 8:53 AM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
On the one hand, General Mills really dropped the ball on handling this. On the other hand, this really does sound like product tampering based on the taped up bag. On the third hand, most product adulteration stories are fake.
posted by SansPoint at 8:56 AM on March 24, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 8:56 AM on March 24, 2021 [12 favorites]
shrimp allergy here, so that pings my food phobias, and doesn't sound very fun. I like sampling exotic snacks and occasionally will have an unpleasant couple of days when the "processed in facilities that also processes seafood/shellfish" warning is more serious than usual.
posted by th3ph17 at 8:58 AM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by th3ph17 at 8:58 AM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
punchtothehead: "The NY Times is on the case"
But where is the NY Post?
SHRIMPLESS TAIL FOUND IN BREAKFAST BOWL; KARP-ING OVER "FISHY" FIND
posted by chavenet at 9:01 AM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
But where is the NY Post?
SHRIMPLESS TAIL FOUND IN BREAKFAST BOWL; KARP-ING OVER "FISHY" FIND
posted by chavenet at 9:01 AM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
Where is the tape on the bag? When I look at the first photo in this link from above, it looks to me like the seam that runs the length of the bag, in the middle (not on the corners) is there, kind of sticking out towards the bottom of the photo. The rest of the bag looks like, well, what happens when I try to open a cereal bag and things go wrong.
posted by Snowishberlin at 9:06 AM on March 24, 2021
posted by Snowishberlin at 9:06 AM on March 24, 2021
So, in 2020 Danielle Fishel tweeted a sponsored post about Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavoured Coffee Mate and in 2021 her husband tweeted that he found shrimp tails in Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Clearly something went wrong with either that sponsorship agreement or that marriage in the interim.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2021 [13 favorites]
On the one hand, I can easily believe in this kind of food contamination, especially since shrimp have been a problem for GM before. On the other, if this man is a known liar, I'd believe he lied about it too.
I had just recently seen a video about the lady who found a finger in her chili at Wendy's. (Tl;dr: she was a serial litigator and a hoaxer, then and before.) I also remember a news story about two people who claimed to have found a mouse in the soup at Cracker Barrel, but forensic examination proved the mouse had no soup inside it, and had been placed afterwards. That story was strangely poignant to me, as the claim was made by a mother and her grown son, and you could tell from the ages given in the story that she had been a teen mom. A hard life and some ugly times to bring you to plant mice at the Cracker Barrel.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:23 AM on March 24, 2021 [17 favorites]
I had just recently seen a video about the lady who found a finger in her chili at Wendy's. (Tl;dr: she was a serial litigator and a hoaxer, then and before.) I also remember a news story about two people who claimed to have found a mouse in the soup at Cracker Barrel, but forensic examination proved the mouse had no soup inside it, and had been placed afterwards. That story was strangely poignant to me, as the claim was made by a mother and her grown son, and you could tell from the ages given in the story that she had been a teen mom. A hard life and some ugly times to bring you to plant mice at the Cracker Barrel.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:23 AM on March 24, 2021 [17 favorites]
Melissa Stetten: "What you may not know about the man behind the viral posts” what like he’s a manipulative gaslighting narcissistic ex-boyfriend who once told me he was surprised I hadn’t killed myself because my life was so worthless?
posted by mstokes650 at 9:24 AM on March 24, 2021 [30 favorites]
posted by mstokes650 at 9:24 AM on March 24, 2021 [30 favorites]
In certain corporate circles, a related social media account, @CTCSquares, is secretly short for CrusTaCeanSquares. Coincidence? You decide.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:28 AM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:28 AM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
This guy had already started his Milkshake Duck before I finished my morning coffee. Posts by women who know this guy are... oof.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:39 AM on March 24, 2021 [22 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:39 AM on March 24, 2021 [22 favorites]
Okay, hoax or not, I just want to say that I am really enjoying what feels like a return to the good old days of metafilter and the internet. Everyone is having happy 24-hour riff cycles on stuff like cinnamon sugar shrimp tails and Boaty McStuckFace, instead of the rise of fascism. I know these things are more-or-less serious problems, and the bad stuff is still here, but it just feels like the mood has lightened a shade or two.
posted by agentofselection at 9:45 AM on March 24, 2021 [62 favorites]
posted by agentofselection at 9:45 AM on March 24, 2021 [62 favorites]
Now I'm just worried I'm going to find a piece of cereal in my Calbee shrimp chips.
posted by theodolite at 9:47 AM on March 24, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 9:47 AM on March 24, 2021 [17 favorites]
I am a lawyer who works for a food company, and I have had to advise on a couple of recall/product withdrawal matters. (Thankfully none that were public or crustacean-adjacent...) I'm fascinated. Everything about this story is bananas and terrible.
General Mills did this terribly:
1. How on earth did they think it was cool to respond so flippantly to something with such viral potential? It makes zero sense that they would instantly say "no you are wrong" and wouldn't stick to the easy script of "we take food safety very seriously and will investigate this promptly. Can you please send lot number, date of purchase, etc. etc. etc."
2. How on earth are they not taking immediate, immediate action when someone is (credibly? at least for the moment) claiming product contamination with a "major food allergen" and maybe with rodents or foreign material?
3. Why would they double down with a tone-deaf blame-shifting statement about "waiting for the consumer to send us the package to investigate further..."? (ESPECIALLY when they know he's not gonna do that and they really do want that box of cereal to investigate.)
4. Their request of him to take it to a police station came off as totally overkill and weird but they could have explained it better as "look if you don't trust us anymore or won't cooperate voluntarily at least please take it to authorities because it really matters to us."
I get GM's skepticism, because a number of things would have to go wrong at a plant for this kind of contamination to make it through into a box. But once it had any kind of legs, they should have had a high level person reaching out directly to this guy to talk and explain that (a) it's serious, (b) they want to do right both by him and any other consumers out there, (c) they screwed up the response and know that, and (d) they really really need the product to look into things. When there's a product recall issue you want to be out in front and if the FDA starts the conversation it's way more complicated.
The guy did this terribly:
1. I get that he's mad at GM "gaslighting" him but if his real concern is that he got a box of cereal with a bunch of dangerous stuff in it you'd think he'd be more willing to cooperate even if they are acting like idiots.
2. He's taking it to his own outside lab?
3. He has taken a weird super-defensive stance and refuses to send any of it to GM to investigate a potential major safety risk because they hurt his feelings?
4. In the meantime he's tweeting and re-tweeting jokes about the whole thing?
It's bananas:
His name is a fish, and his wife's name is a fish, and it has to do with fish, and he bought it at the Costco on Topanga Canyon and his wife was Topanga on TV and he's a comedian/marketer, and he funded a video for Chance the Rapper and maybe he's a giant asshole in real life and and and and.
I get that it's a dumb and funny story of the 24 hour news cycle, but I really want to see where it goes. I can't imagine that a major company like GM would have enough things fall over at their plant that shrimp tails and mouse poop would make it through. I can't imagine why someone at Costco would break into a box of cereal and randomly contaminate it. And I can't imagine he'd make up something that would be such a major thing if it were real.
Now that the story has gone crazy, if it turns out he made it up as some bizarro gag there's real liability risk for him. If I were advising GM in that case, I'd blow the dude up.
posted by AgentRocket at 9:59 AM on March 24, 2021 [90 favorites]
General Mills did this terribly:
1. How on earth did they think it was cool to respond so flippantly to something with such viral potential? It makes zero sense that they would instantly say "no you are wrong" and wouldn't stick to the easy script of "we take food safety very seriously and will investigate this promptly. Can you please send lot number, date of purchase, etc. etc. etc."
2. How on earth are they not taking immediate, immediate action when someone is (credibly? at least for the moment) claiming product contamination with a "major food allergen" and maybe with rodents or foreign material?
3. Why would they double down with a tone-deaf blame-shifting statement about "waiting for the consumer to send us the package to investigate further..."? (ESPECIALLY when they know he's not gonna do that and they really do want that box of cereal to investigate.)
4. Their request of him to take it to a police station came off as totally overkill and weird but they could have explained it better as "look if you don't trust us anymore or won't cooperate voluntarily at least please take it to authorities because it really matters to us."
I get GM's skepticism, because a number of things would have to go wrong at a plant for this kind of contamination to make it through into a box. But once it had any kind of legs, they should have had a high level person reaching out directly to this guy to talk and explain that (a) it's serious, (b) they want to do right both by him and any other consumers out there, (c) they screwed up the response and know that, and (d) they really really need the product to look into things. When there's a product recall issue you want to be out in front and if the FDA starts the conversation it's way more complicated.
The guy did this terribly:
1. I get that he's mad at GM "gaslighting" him but if his real concern is that he got a box of cereal with a bunch of dangerous stuff in it you'd think he'd be more willing to cooperate even if they are acting like idiots.
2. He's taking it to his own outside lab?
3. He has taken a weird super-defensive stance and refuses to send any of it to GM to investigate a potential major safety risk because they hurt his feelings?
4. In the meantime he's tweeting and re-tweeting jokes about the whole thing?
It's bananas:
His name is a fish, and his wife's name is a fish, and it has to do with fish, and he bought it at the Costco on Topanga Canyon and his wife was Topanga on TV and he's a comedian/marketer, and he funded a video for Chance the Rapper and maybe he's a giant asshole in real life and and and and.
I get that it's a dumb and funny story of the 24 hour news cycle, but I really want to see where it goes. I can't imagine that a major company like GM would have enough things fall over at their plant that shrimp tails and mouse poop would make it through. I can't imagine why someone at Costco would break into a box of cereal and randomly contaminate it. And I can't imagine he'd make up something that would be such a major thing if it were real.
Now that the story has gone crazy, if it turns out he made it up as some bizarro gag there's real liability risk for him. If I were advising GM in that case, I'd blow the dude up.
posted by AgentRocket at 9:59 AM on March 24, 2021 [90 favorites]
AgentRocket: "I can't imagine why someone at Costco would break into a box of cereal and randomly contaminate it."
One time my mother opened a pack of flour tortillas and someone had written "HELP I'M TRAPPED IN A TORTILLA FACTORY" on one in black marker. My impression is not that a particular person at the cereal factory did this particular possible food adulteration, but in our case, a particular person at the tortilla factory did do that food adulteration.
We got a huge box of tortillas and tortilla-adjacent foods as an apology; it was great.
posted by punchtothehead at 10:14 AM on March 24, 2021 [34 favorites]
One time my mother opened a pack of flour tortillas and someone had written "HELP I'M TRAPPED IN A TORTILLA FACTORY" on one in black marker. My impression is not that a particular person at the cereal factory did this particular possible food adulteration, but in our case, a particular person at the tortilla factory did do that food adulteration.
We got a huge box of tortillas and tortilla-adjacent foods as an apology; it was great.
posted by punchtothehead at 10:14 AM on March 24, 2021 [34 favorites]
A hard life and some ugly times to bring you to plant mice at the Cracker Barrel.
my gods, this is Proustian
posted by elkevelvet at 10:26 AM on March 24, 2021 [15 favorites]
my gods, this is Proustian
posted by elkevelvet at 10:26 AM on March 24, 2021 [15 favorites]
This guy was a guest on a podcast I listened to a few years back and, though I don't remember any specifics about the interview, my takeaway impression was he was 100% full of shit. So, while it's possible this is something that actually happened, at least for now I'm siding with the STTs (Shrimp Tail Truthers.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:29 AM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:29 AM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
This tweet from waxy notes a fun accidental convergence of an old twitter analysis goof and the current situation.
posted by cortex at 10:29 AM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by cortex at 10:29 AM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
A long time ago, I was at a Safeway when someone returned a bag of sliced white bread with a chef's knife baked inside it.
posted by aniola at 10:42 AM on March 24, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by aniola at 10:42 AM on March 24, 2021 [15 favorites]
Good thread debunking the possibility that shrimp could have been inserted at the factory.
posted by SansPoint at 10:49 AM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by SansPoint at 10:49 AM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I read waaay too much of Cinnamon Toast Shrimp Twitter yesterday and am torn between the two most plausible explanations of a) it's a fiction or b) a rodent made a nest in some ingredient on the production line and the tape is from the end of a bag film roll.
Between this and the container ship it's been some fine internet rubbernecking.
posted by deludingmyself at 11:05 AM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
Between this and the container ship it's been some fine internet rubbernecking.
posted by deludingmyself at 11:05 AM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
I think the best part of this story is the weird detail that Shrimp tail guy is married to Topanga.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 11:06 AM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 11:06 AM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
Today I learned that my phone automatically capitalizes Cinnamon Toast Crunch in my texts, which feels like a conspiracy all it’s own.
posted by Comet Bug at 11:17 AM on March 24, 2021 [21 favorites]
posted by Comet Bug at 11:17 AM on March 24, 2021 [21 favorites]
OMG, they bought it from our local Costco!
(suspiciously eyes everything bought from Costco over the last decade...)
posted by speedingpullet at 11:21 AM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
(suspiciously eyes everything bought from Costco over the last decade...)
posted by speedingpullet at 11:21 AM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
I would be shocked if those are actually shrimp tails and not the first/last bits of CTC batter to come out of the extruder.
Side note: I would totally eat Shrimpy Toasted Crunch.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:30 AM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Side note: I would totally eat Shrimpy Toasted Crunch.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:30 AM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or its social media team) has responded
I think it's a pretty good bet that it was the team who responded rather than the cereal.
posted by The Tensor at 11:37 AM on March 24, 2021 [35 favorites]
I think it's a pretty good bet that it was the team who responded rather than the cereal.
posted by The Tensor at 11:37 AM on March 24, 2021 [35 favorites]
I would be shocked if those are actually shrimp tails and not the first/last bits of CTC batter to come out of the extruder.
One thing in all this, maybe the only thing, that is absolutely unambiguous from the evidence available is that the main things under discussion are very much shrimp tails, to the point where it's mindboggling that someone at CTC's social media account tried to argue otherwise (and make essentially the same claim you are here, but in an official corporate capacity instead of an offhand comment).
posted by cortex at 11:41 AM on March 24, 2021 [12 favorites]
One thing in all this, maybe the only thing, that is absolutely unambiguous from the evidence available is that the main things under discussion are very much shrimp tails, to the point where it's mindboggling that someone at CTC's social media account tried to argue otherwise (and make essentially the same claim you are here, but in an official corporate capacity instead of an offhand comment).
posted by cortex at 11:41 AM on March 24, 2021 [12 favorites]
Cinnamon Toast Shrimp? At this time of year, at this time of day, coincidentally sold to and found by a comedian/marketer?
posted by bag of teeth at 11:41 AM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by bag of teeth at 11:41 AM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
His box was contaminated by someone. Food safety is always going to be and issue, remember poisoned Tylenol?
I just had a grocery delivery the other day where a "new" frozen pizza box arrived and was taped at the top. I could see no other disruption to the normal packaging, including the shrink wrapped pizza inside.
I threw it in the trash immediately because of the outside POSSIBILITY of food contamination.
LIKE THEY TELL YOU TO DO ON THE PACKAGING:
If this is damaged or open, dispose of immediately and do not consume.
posted by djseafood at 11:44 AM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
I just had a grocery delivery the other day where a "new" frozen pizza box arrived and was taped at the top. I could see no other disruption to the normal packaging, including the shrink wrapped pizza inside.
I threw it in the trash immediately because of the outside POSSIBILITY of food contamination.
LIKE THEY TELL YOU TO DO ON THE PACKAGING:
If this is damaged or open, dispose of immediately and do not consume.
posted by djseafood at 11:44 AM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
Today I learned that my phone automatically capitalizes Cinnamon Toast Crunch in my texts, which feels like a conspiracy all it’s own.
At least I can see it with a branded product. I'm more puzzled by why my always capitalizes the word Will. I only know two or three people named William and they all go "William" or "Bill," so I don't think it is learning from my texts. This is the sort of thing thatWill Will Will will eventually cause me to hurl my phone across the room.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:55 AM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
At least I can see it with a branded product. I'm more puzzled by why my always capitalizes the word Will. I only know two or three people named William and they all go "William" or "Bill," so I don't think it is learning from my texts. This is the sort of thing that
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:55 AM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
I'm more puzzled by why my always capitalizes the word Will. I only know two or three people named William and they all go "William" or "Bill," so I don't think it is learning from my texts. This is the sort of thing that Will Will Will will eventually cause me to hurl my phone across the room.
I feel bad now. I have a friend called Will and I have always secretly cursed him when this happens.
posted by roolya_boolya at 11:57 AM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
I feel bad now. I have a friend called Will and I have always secretly cursed him when this happens.
posted by roolya_boolya at 11:57 AM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
Oh boy, an opportunity to share my anecdote about ordering a glass of ice water in a restaurant in Decatur, GA, and it arriving with a shrimp tail floating in it!
In that case, it was almost certainly a case of the shrimp tail beingin the dishwasher and getting thrown up er...in the dishwashing machine, and being kicked up...into the glass while it was being washed.
I sent the iced shrimpwater back. The waiter was contrite, but I did tip him extra for the anecdote.
posted by darkstar at 12:04 PM on March 24, 2021 [10 favorites]
In that case, it was almost certainly a case of the shrimp tail being
I sent the iced shrimpwater back. The waiter was contrite, but I did tip him extra for the anecdote.
posted by darkstar at 12:04 PM on March 24, 2021 [10 favorites]
remember poisoned Tylenol
Yup. Something that happened in the early 80s, and is still the best-known example, because this kind of tampering is so incredibly rare. Fake tampering is vastly more common than real tampering.
posted by primethyme at 12:06 PM on March 24, 2021 [24 favorites]
Yup. Something that happened in the early 80s, and is still the best-known example, because this kind of tampering is so incredibly rare. Fake tampering is vastly more common than real tampering.
posted by primethyme at 12:06 PM on March 24, 2021 [24 favorites]
His box was contaminated by someone. Food safety is always going to be and issue, remember poisoned Tylenol?
I think deliberately contaminating food is extremely rare. Opening boxes of cereal, eating out of them while you shop, and just leaving the box on the shelf when you're done is, unfortunately, not uncommon. If you find open packaging in a grocery store most of the time that's why, in my experience.
Except for this one lady who opened pickle jars just to smell them, I guess to decide which kind she wanted, and was horrified to learn that I had to throw all of them out because obviously they could no longer be sold.
posted by selenized at 12:17 PM on March 24, 2021 [24 favorites]
I think deliberately contaminating food is extremely rare. Opening boxes of cereal, eating out of them while you shop, and just leaving the box on the shelf when you're done is, unfortunately, not uncommon. If you find open packaging in a grocery store most of the time that's why, in my experience.
Except for this one lady who opened pickle jars just to smell them, I guess to decide which kind she wanted, and was horrified to learn that I had to throw all of them out because obviously they could no longer be sold.
posted by selenized at 12:17 PM on March 24, 2021 [24 favorites]
In that case, it was almost certainly a case of the shrimp tail being in the dishwasher ...
Oh God, do people not scrape dishes at a restaurant? I would have been sick -- in fact I might be now --
posted by Countess Elena at 12:26 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh God, do people not scrape dishes at a restaurant? I would have been sick -- in fact I might be now --
posted by Countess Elena at 12:26 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
"Tampering is incredibly rare but Fake tampering is more common"
Am I to understand you are stating: the finger (likely) points to the discoverer? (I agree)
Thusly axiomed: Whomever smelt it delt it.
posted by djseafood at 12:27 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
Am I to understand you are stating: the finger (likely) points to the discoverer? (I agree)
Thusly axiomed: Whomever smelt it delt it.
posted by djseafood at 12:27 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
This guy saw what happened to bean dad & was like "I want that level of attention too. But for me it will only be good attention. Because I'm special."
posted by bleep at 12:34 PM on March 24, 2021 [21 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:34 PM on March 24, 2021 [21 favorites]
The thing about milkshake duck is that if you get everyone to pay attention to you with some eye catching novelty, everyone will find out what an asshole you really are in short order. Everyone knows this & they're compelled to try it anyway.
posted by bleep at 12:36 PM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:36 PM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
djseafood: "Whomever smelt it delt it."
SHRIMPONISTERICAL
posted by chavenet at 12:38 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
SHRIMPONISTERICAL
posted by chavenet at 12:38 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
First documented case of canshell culture?
posted by thecincinnatikid at 12:44 PM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by thecincinnatikid at 12:44 PM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
if you get everyone to pay attention to you with some eye catching novelty, everyone will find out what an asshole you really are in short order
Milkshake duck has jumped the shark, it’s “Shrimp-poster Syndrome” now
posted by oulipian at 12:46 PM on March 24, 2021 [17 favorites]
Milkshake duck has jumped the shark, it’s “Shrimp-poster Syndrome” now
posted by oulipian at 12:46 PM on March 24, 2021 [17 favorites]
I can't tell yall how mad I am that I killed off my box of cinnamon toast crunch last week because I've got a bag of kirkland brand shrimp in my freezer just BEGGING to be reverse goofed.
posted by phunniemee at 12:46 PM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 12:46 PM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
A hard life and some ugly times to bring you to plant mice at the Cracker Barrel.
"Planting mice at the Cracker Barrel" sounds like a (dare I say, unsavory) euphemism...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:48 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
"Planting mice at the Cracker Barrel" sounds like a (dare I say, unsavory) euphemism...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:48 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
This is still better marketing for cinnamon toast crunch than their actual TV ads.
posted by one for the books at 1:04 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by one for the books at 1:04 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
The tampered/poisoned Tylenol was sold at a big drugstore in Old Town in Chicago. I was a little kid at the time growing up in Chicago, and that terrible event was one of the first mass media freakouts I remember. I mean, people were killed, so it was a truly evil crime. After that was when over the counter capsule medication stopped being produced (remember the Contac cold medicine TV ads?) and all kinds of anti-tampering methods became common everywhere.
As an aside: I'm kinda surprised that it's not MORE common to find weird things in the mass-produced processed foods we consume. Maybe it's more widespread than I think and most people simply never report it or post about it online. I expect there will be a massive wave of copycat social media posts now. Good thing I'm like 95% removed from social media these days.
posted by SoberHighland at 1:13 PM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
As an aside: I'm kinda surprised that it's not MORE common to find weird things in the mass-produced processed foods we consume. Maybe it's more widespread than I think and most people simply never report it or post about it online. I expect there will be a massive wave of copycat social media posts now. Good thing I'm like 95% removed from social media these days.
posted by SoberHighland at 1:13 PM on March 24, 2021 [8 favorites]
One time (and one time only) in high school, my mom took me to a fancy restaurant. How exciting!
I ordered a salad. I had been eating off the top of the salad for 5 minutes when a cockroach-sized cockroach sauntered out from the bottom (or middle?) of the salad.
posted by aniola at 1:15 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
I ordered a salad. I had been eating off the top of the salad for 5 minutes when a cockroach-sized cockroach sauntered out from the bottom (or middle?) of the salad.
posted by aniola at 1:15 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
Where is the tape on the bag?
It is on the second bag in the box (family pack), which is not shown in that picture.
posted by soelo at 1:18 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
It is on the second bag in the box (family pack), which is not shown in that picture.
posted by soelo at 1:18 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
aniola: " I had been eating off the top of the salad for 5 minutes when a cockroach-sized cockroach sauntered out from the bottom (or middle?) of the salad."
Q: What's worse than finding a cockroach in your salad?
A: Finding half a cockroach!
posted by chavenet at 1:23 PM on March 24, 2021 [10 favorites]
Q: What's worse than finding a cockroach in your salad?
A: Finding half a cockroach!
posted by chavenet at 1:23 PM on March 24, 2021 [10 favorites]
Worst that ever happened to me was eating at a fancy Chinese restaurant in Midtown for a work lunch, and finding a large staple in my brown rice.
posted by SansPoint at 1:32 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by SansPoint at 1:32 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
The thing about milkshake duck is that if you get everyone to pay attention to you with some eye catching novelty, everyone will find out what an asshole you really are in short order. Everyone knows this & they're compelled to try it anyway.
And this is exactly why I'll never run for president. I'll have a very sizable lead, then a bunch of people I knew from junior and senior high school, and probably from my early 20s, will step up with really embarrassing stories about me and I'll become the laughing stock of the nation and will lose the presidency worse than Mondale in 1984.
posted by NoMich at 1:33 PM on March 24, 2021 [9 favorites]
And this is exactly why I'll never run for president. I'll have a very sizable lead, then a bunch of people I knew from junior and senior high school, and probably from my early 20s, will step up with really embarrassing stories about me and I'll become the laughing stock of the nation and will lose the presidency worse than Mondale in 1984.
posted by NoMich at 1:33 PM on March 24, 2021 [9 favorites]
Maybe it's more widespread than I think and most people simply never report it or post about it online.
Weird things I have found in packaged food that I can recall off the top of my head:
-buncha dead bugs in a sealed cereal bag
-weird plastic zip tag-looking thing in a container of salad greens
-entirely different variety of vegetable in a frozen vegetable bag (e.g. was supposed to be carrots, in fact contained green beans)
-one single chocolate m&m type thing in a bag of mixed nuts
I've just never social-media-ed about it. Or rather, I've put up an "ew gross haha" facebook post but because I'm not married to Topanga nobody ever gave half a shit about it. Most of the time I've just taken the thing back to the store/restaurant/whatever and gotten a refund and that was the end of it.
Not to detract from the possibility that this guy sucks a lot and is doing all of this for very stupid reasons, but this is definitely a thing that happens. Just not always as gross as shrimp parts in cereal, necessarily.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:35 PM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
Weird things I have found in packaged food that I can recall off the top of my head:
-buncha dead bugs in a sealed cereal bag
-weird plastic zip tag-looking thing in a container of salad greens
-entirely different variety of vegetable in a frozen vegetable bag (e.g. was supposed to be carrots, in fact contained green beans)
-one single chocolate m&m type thing in a bag of mixed nuts
I've just never social-media-ed about it. Or rather, I've put up an "ew gross haha" facebook post but because I'm not married to Topanga nobody ever gave half a shit about it. Most of the time I've just taken the thing back to the store/restaurant/whatever and gotten a refund and that was the end of it.
Not to detract from the possibility that this guy sucks a lot and is doing all of this for very stupid reasons, but this is definitely a thing that happens. Just not always as gross as shrimp parts in cereal, necessarily.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:35 PM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thusly axiomed: Whomever smelt it delt it.
He who scooped it, pooped it.
posted by cortex at 1:35 PM on March 24, 2021
He who scooped it, pooped it.
posted by cortex at 1:35 PM on March 24, 2021
Oh yeah and there was that time the mapo tofu had a couple of bones in it. Soybeans...don't have bones, last time I checked.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:36 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:36 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
a large staple in my brown rice.
This is not what is generally meant by
posted by zamboni at 1:43 PM on March 24, 2021 [22 favorites]
This is not what is generally meant by
staple food.
posted by zamboni at 1:43 PM on March 24, 2021 [22 favorites]
(Dang it, zamboni, you beat me to that by 5 minutes! Take your favorite!)
posted by darkstar at 1:49 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 1:49 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
Thusly axiomed: Whomever smelt it delt it.
He who scooped it, pooped it.
no no - he who shrimped it pimped it
posted by pyramid termite at 1:51 PM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
He who scooped it, pooped it.
no no - he who shrimped it pimped it
posted by pyramid termite at 1:51 PM on March 24, 2021 [14 favorites]
He who shelled it expelled it.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:54 PM on March 24, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:54 PM on March 24, 2021 [15 favorites]
He who prawned it spawned it.
posted by darkstar at 1:56 PM on March 24, 2021 [35 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 1:56 PM on March 24, 2021 [35 favorites]
He who encrabulated it confabulated it.
posted by cortex at 2:03 PM on March 24, 2021 [29 favorites]
posted by cortex at 2:03 PM on March 24, 2021 [29 favorites]
I've seen people bring up the "not GM's first brush with shrimp" story, as if it is somehow proof GM is guilty here. But in that story, General Mills prevented shrimp contamination because they watch for stuff like that, to make sure bad things don't end up in their products. Sure, bad things sometimes end up in production food, but there are so many controls in place that it's no wonder they weren't massively reacting to this guy's story. And the more I read about it, the less plausible it sounds.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 2:33 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by GhostintheMachine at 2:33 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
> Oh yeah and there was that time the mapo tofu had a couple of bones in it. Soybeans...don't have bones, last time I checked.
Mapo tofu also has ground pork (or beef) in it, and it's easy to get chunks of bone mixed into ground meat.
Unless you had at that at a vegetarian restaurant, in which case someone in the kitchen was really going above and beyond their calling I guess.
posted by ardgedee at 2:53 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
Mapo tofu also has ground pork (or beef) in it, and it's easy to get chunks of bone mixed into ground meat.
Unless you had at that at a vegetarian restaurant, in which case someone in the kitchen was really going above and beyond their calling I guess.
posted by ardgedee at 2:53 PM on March 24, 2021 [7 favorites]
Worst that ever happened to me was eating at a fancy Chinese restaurant in Midtown for a work lunch, and finding a large staple in my brown rice.
the only time I have ever been to a Sonic drive-in was in West Memphis, Tennessee; there was a twist tie in my chicken sandwich & when I told the server they looked me dead in the eyes & said "What do you want me to do about it," & I was like "I don't know, agree with me that it's not supposed to be in there?" they were not having any of that however
posted by taquito sunrise at 3:12 PM on March 24, 2021 [29 favorites]
the only time I have ever been to a Sonic drive-in was in West Memphis, Tennessee; there was a twist tie in my chicken sandwich & when I told the server they looked me dead in the eyes & said "What do you want me to do about it," & I was like "I don't know, agree with me that it's not supposed to be in there?" they were not having any of that however
posted by taquito sunrise at 3:12 PM on March 24, 2021 [29 favorites]
I have a friend who swears that he was eating a salad from a fancy-ish chain restaurant and found a paw in the middle of it. An actual paw. He thought it was raccoon. To this day I'm not sure whether to believe him.
posted by holborne at 3:17 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by holborne at 3:17 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I was a little kid at the time growing up in Chicago, and that terrible event was one of the first mass media freakouts I remember.
I was a teenager in Canada, and the media angst was not limited to Chicago. Seven deaths seems an almost quaint figure in an era of COVID and mass shootings, but it seemed grim to us then.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:18 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I was a teenager in Canada, and the media angst was not limited to Chicago. Seven deaths seems an almost quaint figure in an era of COVID and mass shootings, but it seemed grim to us then.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:18 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I bit into a steel washer in my Subway sandwich, lo those 25 years ago. I brought the washer sandwich up to the counter (thankfully my teeth survived) and their reaction was, and I quote, "huh". No coupon, no free cookie, no sympathy, no nothin'.
Mind you, this was the same Subway where I, at the time just about 30, was in line behind a couple of cute local university students; they talking about a mutual friend: "Allison is dating Chuck!" "I know, he's like 30! So gross." I entered as a potential player, and left needing a walker and a nap.
It was a brutal Subway, is what I'm saying.
posted by maxwelton at 3:20 PM on March 24, 2021 [31 favorites]
Mind you, this was the same Subway where I, at the time just about 30, was in line behind a couple of cute local university students; they talking about a mutual friend: "Allison is dating Chuck!" "I know, he's like 30! So gross." I entered as a potential player, and left needing a walker and a nap.
It was a brutal Subway, is what I'm saying.
posted by maxwelton at 3:20 PM on March 24, 2021 [31 favorites]
Metafilter: A hard life and some ugly times to bring you to plant mice at the Cracker Barrel.
posted by elwoodwiles at 3:34 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by elwoodwiles at 3:34 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
One time (and one time only) in high school, my mom took me to a fancy restaurant. How exciting!
I ordered a salad. I had been eating off the top of the salad for 5 minutes when a cockroach-sized cockroach sauntered out from the bottom (or middle?) of the salad.
In Bishkek, a Turkish restaurant opened near my school. I never went out for lunch but made a special occasion of it - hey, kebaps, excellent! The food was OK. Until, about halfway through, a cockroach emerged from under the plate rim and walked brazenly onto the top of my un finished meal.
I did not finish. I asked the waiter to clear my plate, and not sure if he noticed the roach but it went for a ride back home to the kitchen. I was just too WTF'ed to make a stink, just walked away.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:46 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I ordered a salad. I had been eating off the top of the salad for 5 minutes when a cockroach-sized cockroach sauntered out from the bottom (or middle?) of the salad.
In Bishkek, a Turkish restaurant opened near my school. I never went out for lunch but made a special occasion of it - hey, kebaps, excellent! The food was OK. Until, about halfway through, a cockroach emerged from under the plate rim and walked brazenly onto the top of my un finished meal.
I did not finish. I asked the waiter to clear my plate, and not sure if he noticed the roach but it went for a ride back home to the kitchen. I was just too WTF'ed to make a stink, just walked away.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:46 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter: not your first shrimp rodeo.
posted by doctornemo at 3:55 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 3:55 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
Often nicknamed "Big G",
The Battle Creek ceral consortium, AKA, Post, understands the situation and offers it's full resources to help identify said problem and eliminate the bloody red shrimp as a possible source. The myth of 2 deer eating jiffy mix from a locked delivery truck is but one example to keep product labels wholesome.
Brinkley Shipman, Department of mishaps, under-gluing and font.
posted by clavdivs at 6:07 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Battle Creek ceral consortium, AKA, Post, understands the situation and offers it's full resources to help identify said problem and eliminate the bloody red shrimp as a possible source. The myth of 2 deer eating jiffy mix from a locked delivery truck is but one example to keep product labels wholesome.
Brinkley Shipman, Department of mishaps, under-gluing and font.
posted by clavdivs at 6:07 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Burger King in London. At the bottom of my fries, a giant wad of hair. I think I was just the victim of a random prank because even as a teen I always tried to be nice to anyone serving or helping me. It was awful and still periodically flashes through my mind over 20 years later. Blech!
posted by CMcG at 6:08 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by CMcG at 6:08 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have heard of this fucking guy. As Hot Karl and as Jensen Karp, I think. But where have I heard of this fucking guy? I thought maybe it was here, even.
I just know if I can remember this the pieces will fall into place!
posted by atoxyl at 6:38 PM on March 24, 2021
I just know if I can remember this the pieces will fall into place!
posted by atoxyl at 6:38 PM on March 24, 2021
Working at Burger King in high school, it was not uncommon for people to stick things in their burgers and demand free stuff. There was a late shift when I was on the register and a friend of mine was by himself in the kitchen, and a guy claimed he found a cigarette stub in his Whopper Jr. I knew my friend didn’t smoke and told the guy so. The guy hadn’t even taken a bite out of the burger to make the “discovery” look plausible. He’d just hurried over to a booth, unwrapped the burger, plopped a crushed-out cigarette on the two pickle slices, and brought it right back up. I remember his eyes flashed angry and I thought, shit, I’m 16 and there are no adults here, this could turn ugly. But then the guy asked for a hundred dollars in a sort of plaintive voice and walked away (with the burger) when I said no.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:40 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:40 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
Wait wait wait - Cinnamon Toast Crunch is manufactured in Albuquerque?
posted by medusa at 7:13 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by medusa at 7:13 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
My brother and I once put a plastic drink cup lid into my poor old dad's double cheeseburger at one of those ubiquitous LA-area greasy spoon charbroiled burger, gyros, and breakfast food diners you'd find near freeways and industrial parks.
I don't know why we did it, or who suggested it. It was probably me.
He treated the plastic cup lid like an onerous bit of an onion slice before he noticed what was going on and looked up at us barely stifling our giggles and blurted out something like "What... the fuck? Oh, you guys!" and laughing about it.
posted by loquacious at 7:16 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't know why we did it, or who suggested it. It was probably me.
He treated the plastic cup lid like an onerous bit of an onion slice before he noticed what was going on and looked up at us barely stifling our giggles and blurted out something like "What... the fuck? Oh, you guys!" and laughing about it.
posted by loquacious at 7:16 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
But where have I heard of this fucking guy? I thought maybe it was here, even.
He used to be on a lot of Earwolf and Earwolf-adjacent podcasts if you listen to any of those
posted by Think_Long at 7:34 PM on March 24, 2021
He used to be on a lot of Earwolf and Earwolf-adjacent podcasts if you listen to any of those
posted by Think_Long at 7:34 PM on March 24, 2021
atoxyl: if you've listened to Marc McConville and Matt Gourley's podcast "Pistol Shrimps Radio", he was a recurring guest on that for a while. He did a "Sock Report" that started out a little bit fetishy and offputting in a way that wasn't clear if it was a gag or not, and turned into a bizarre "escaping a cult" bit that clashed really badly with the style and tone of the rest of the show.
posted by rifflesby at 7:35 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rifflesby at 7:35 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Wait wait wait - Cinnamon Toast Crunch is manufactured in Albuquerque?
New Mexico altered its tax laws in the 90s and a large chunk of the United States’ crunch has been produced there ever since.
posted by orange ball at 7:57 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
New Mexico altered its tax laws in the 90s and a large chunk of the United States’ crunch has been produced there ever since.
posted by orange ball at 7:57 PM on March 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
Unless you had at that at a vegetarian restaurant, in which case someone in the kitchen was really going above and beyond their calling I guess.
Oh yeah nope, should specify: this was indeed ostensibly a vegan version of the dish at a vegetarian (though not wholly vegan) restaurant. So...probably shouldn't have been anything with bones around. (Well, they might have had a couple of fish dishes, but these were NOT fish bones.)
It was delivery though, so we just played a fun game of "what animal do we think these ARE anyway" and threw it out.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:50 PM on March 24, 2021
Oh yeah nope, should specify: this was indeed ostensibly a vegan version of the dish at a vegetarian (though not wholly vegan) restaurant. So...probably shouldn't have been anything with bones around. (Well, they might have had a couple of fish dishes, but these were NOT fish bones.)
It was delivery though, so we just played a fun game of "what animal do we think these ARE anyway" and threw it out.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:50 PM on March 24, 2021
At a (possibly) Burger King in Phoenix, late one night in the late 70's, I ordered fries at the drive through (quite possibly along with burger, shake, and assorted etc's) when I pulled out my first fry, a fried moth came attached. I didn't eat them. Nor did I complain or tell anyone until the next day. Shit happens.
posted by evilDoug at 9:00 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by evilDoug at 9:00 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I’ll see your pathetic shrimp tail story and raise you one Michael Malloy.
Murphy tried next. He let a tin of sardines rot for several days, mixed in some shrapnel, slathered the concoction between pieces of bread and served Malloy the sandwich.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:36 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Murphy tried next. He let a tin of sardines rot for several days, mixed in some shrapnel, slathered the concoction between pieces of bread and served Malloy the sandwich.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:36 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
My worst was nearly swallowing a small key that was in the bottom of my takeaway coffee. The barista shrugged and said it was a key off the machine.
posted by andraste at 9:37 PM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by andraste at 9:37 PM on March 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
I was a toddler in Chicago when the tylenol thing happened. I "remembered" it in a very vague way, but it got mixed up in my head with razor blades in Halloween candy, with the result that I went in to full-on hysterics when anyone tried to get me to swallow a pill until I was FOURTEEN and the pharmacist refused to make me bubblegum flavored liquid antibiotics anymore. I struggled to swallow pills for YEARS after because I panicked every time.
I was in my 20s in law school and we started doing this case in trusts and estates and I was like OH HOLY SHIT THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED????? I was 100% convinced I had made it up from local news halloween candy hysteria. Blew my mind.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:54 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
I was in my 20s in law school and we started doing this case in trusts and estates and I was like OH HOLY SHIT THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED????? I was 100% convinced I had made it up from local news halloween candy hysteria. Blew my mind.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:54 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
"Planting mice at the Cracker Barrel" sounds like a (dare I say, unsavory) euphemism...
Or an Anne Tyler novel.
posted by h00py at 4:06 AM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]
Or an Anne Tyler novel.
posted by h00py at 4:06 AM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]
Once years ago at a diner I saw a roach roaching its way up the wall—not even on the table—and calmly pointed it out to the server. My guess is that the staff were aware of an ongoing problem, since they quietly apologized and comped the meal.
Another time at Olive Garden I found a small piece of plastic in my salad, probably a piece of the plastic bag the salad greens came in. Gave it to the server; same result.
I suppose there are people who make careers out of dining free after making phony charges like these, but I can't imagine ever being that hungry for either food or attention.
posted by Flexagon at 8:52 AM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Another time at Olive Garden I found a small piece of plastic in my salad, probably a piece of the plastic bag the salad greens came in. Gave it to the server; same result.
I suppose there are people who make careers out of dining free after making phony charges like these, but I can't imagine ever being that hungry for either food or attention.
posted by Flexagon at 8:52 AM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have seen, as a consultant, the lengths that cereal manufacturers go to, to keep their facilities clean and safe and to ensure there's no contamination of food products. A recall is so expensive and damaging to the brand's reputation that they'll go to enormous lengths to avoid any risk of one. It's deadly serious to management. The cereal plant I worked at pretty much wouldn't let anyone onto their property until they'd had at least a half day of safety and quality training and passed their written exams.
I haven't worked for this manufacturer specifically but it's blowing my mind that this weird combination of contaminations (shrimp and rodent droppings and string and tape?) would even be possible at the manufacturing facility. I'm not saying impossible, just that it's such a monumental fuckup it's hard to wrap my head around.
The inept social media response is pretty funny in any case.
posted by beandip at 9:04 AM on March 25, 2021 [17 favorites]
I haven't worked for this manufacturer specifically but it's blowing my mind that this weird combination of contaminations (shrimp and rodent droppings and string and tape?) would even be possible at the manufacturing facility. I'm not saying impossible, just that it's such a monumental fuckup it's hard to wrap my head around.
The inept social media response is pretty funny in any case.
posted by beandip at 9:04 AM on March 25, 2021 [17 favorites]
The milkshake gets duckier, according to an update on Vulture.
Updated March 24 at 9:37 p.m.: Since Jensen Karp’s post went viral, multiple women have come forward on Twitter accusing him of emotionally abusive and manipulative behavior both in relationships and as an employer. Writer and member of the aforementioned Pistol Shrimps Melissa Stetten tweeted that she used to date Karp and she described her experience with him that she calls “narcissistic.” She adds that she’s been getting “lots of texts” from other women who had had negative experiences with Karp. Stephanie Mickus, a television writer, quoted Stetten’s tweet and shared her own anecdote about a problematic experience. Mickus also tweeted about the “amount of women who DM’d me with stories today. Let alone the ones I have known about for years and talked to about our shared experiences.” Actor and writer Rory Uphold also tweeted about her experience with Karp. Comedian Eliza Skinner tweeted, “I don’t specifically remember saying ‘I hope he gets poisoned by rats’ as I dumped change into a well, but it definitely sounds like something I would do.” She later added that she was a head writer for the TBS rap-battle show Drop the Mic, on which Karp was an executive producer. Writer and comedian Brittani Nichols also shared an entire thread in which she outlines her time working for Karp as the only Black writer on Drop the Mic.posted by abulafa at 1:20 PM on March 25, 2021 [7 favorites]
I suppose there are people who make careers out of dining free after making phony charges like these, but I can't imagine ever being that hungry for either food or attention.
Victor/Victoria makes use of this as a plot point.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:21 PM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Victor/Victoria makes use of this as a plot point.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:21 PM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
remember poisoned Tylenol
Yup. Something that happened in the early 80s, and is still the best-known example, because this kind of tampering is so incredibly rare.
In addition to being remembered because of the rarity of real and serious product tampering, and because of the serious and tragic consequences in that case, it's also remembered because of the corporate response. The response by Johnson & Johnson is still pointed to in media relations training on corporate crisis management (I know, because I participated in such training a while back, and they pointed to it). They didn't blow it off or suggest it wasn't their problem because their facilities were safe. They shut down production entirely and issued a nationwide Tylenol recall. They had patrols with loudspeakers in Chicago warning people about Tylenol. They recognized immediately that they had a major issue and that the entire brand - in addition to people's lives - was at risk, and they made sure they did (and were seen to be doing) everything they could think of to make it better.
In other words, the opposite of everything AgentRocket summarized in GM's case.
posted by nickmark at 11:01 AM on March 26, 2021 [6 favorites]
Yup. Something that happened in the early 80s, and is still the best-known example, because this kind of tampering is so incredibly rare.
In addition to being remembered because of the rarity of real and serious product tampering, and because of the serious and tragic consequences in that case, it's also remembered because of the corporate response. The response by Johnson & Johnson is still pointed to in media relations training on corporate crisis management (I know, because I participated in such training a while back, and they pointed to it). They didn't blow it off or suggest it wasn't their problem because their facilities were safe. They shut down production entirely and issued a nationwide Tylenol recall. They had patrols with loudspeakers in Chicago warning people about Tylenol. They recognized immediately that they had a major issue and that the entire brand - in addition to people's lives - was at risk, and they made sure they did (and were seen to be doing) everything they could think of to make it better.
In other words, the opposite of everything AgentRocket summarized in GM's case.
posted by nickmark at 11:01 AM on March 26, 2021 [6 favorites]
I got a sandwich at a local restaurant and there was a hair in it. I admit I pulled it out and took another bite, because, whatever, I live in this flawed world. But then there were a lot more hairs, enough that I brought it back to the counter. The guy said, "Oh, I know what happened." I did not find that reassuring.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:59 PM on March 26, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:59 PM on March 26, 2021 [17 favorites]
Better than "oh, that always happens".
posted by Meatbomb at 4:30 AM on March 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Meatbomb at 4:30 AM on March 27, 2021 [2 favorites]
I suppose there are people who make careers out of dining free after making phony charges like these, but I can't imagine ever being that hungry for either food or attention.
At a chain restaurant in Winnipeg once the perhaps-overly-solicitous waiter inquired at the end how my meal had been. I replied earnestly that the starter and mains had been quite good, but the dessert was honestly a little disappointing. He insisted on comping the dessert and offering me my choice of another selection, gratis, to take away with me.
I can see how scoundrels could take advantage of this.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:32 AM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
At a chain restaurant in Winnipeg once the perhaps-overly-solicitous waiter inquired at the end how my meal had been. I replied earnestly that the starter and mains had been quite good, but the dessert was honestly a little disappointing. He insisted on comping the dessert and offering me my choice of another selection, gratis, to take away with me.
I can see how scoundrels could take advantage of this.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:32 AM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
I replied earnestly that the starter and mains had been quite good, but the dessert was honestly a little disappointing.
My wife and I are still scandalized by the time we heard a patron tell their server that their chicken sandwich was only "fine". Can you tell we are Minnesotans?
posted by Think_Long at 8:47 AM on March 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
My wife and I are still scandalized by the time we heard a patron tell their server that their chicken sandwich was only "fine". Can you tell we are Minnesotans?
posted by Think_Long at 8:47 AM on March 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
I just found what seems to be a rather large part of a tooth in a piece of chocolate. I'm trying to decide what would be best for me: that it's part of my tooth; that it's part of someone else's tooth; that it's part of a claw.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:31 PM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:31 PM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
Erstwhile daily tweeter Karp has been dead silent for about a week, and whoever is currently in charge of tweeting for Cinnamon Toast Crunch has likewise shut the fuck up for the interim, so I'm not sure whether or when we'll hear any followup on this. If it's all bullshit, General Mills is still probably not going to make a public legal fuss of it because they'd rather not associate themselves further with mystery shrimp, and it seems like Karp has figured out that not talking is his best option ever since the milkshake hit the duck.
posted by cortex at 3:56 PM on March 30, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by cortex at 3:56 PM on March 30, 2021 [4 favorites]
Well that's growth. At least he's skipping the doubling down/lashing out phase.
posted by bleep at 4:11 PM on March 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by bleep at 4:11 PM on March 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
« Older "Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a... | "Stallman’s 'that’s how it is' is not how it has... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
* Toast: No.
* Crunch: Looks pretty crunchy from here.
I dunno, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
posted by genpfault at 8:32 AM on March 24, 2021 [13 favorites]