This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.
Way back when, we lived down the street from Mr. Steve. Mr. Steve was the father of two of our little friends. We thought Mr. Steve and Mrs. Lenore really really really rich because they had one of the few two story houses on the block. Actually, there were more than just one or two two-story houses on the block, but we only knew two of the families personally that lived in two story houses. I don’t know why that was so special, as a couple of the one story houses were just as big square footage-wise as their house. When you are a child of a certain age, your mind does not compute square footage; only number of stories and the number of pets that live there to equal wealth and importance. They had a dog too, so they must have been really doing well for themselves. Anyhow, Mr. Steve worked for Hormel, and occasionally he would bring stuff to barbecues or give people packages of pepperoni or cheese or some other product like that. No Spam, though. We were forced to get that ourselves if we wanted it (as if there was a shortage).
Today, when i see Hormel products at the store, I think of Mr. Steve and Ray Milland. Yep, Ray Milland. I wasn’t in the demographic group to know who Mr. Milland was at the time, but I found out later. Because there were fewer food groups back then, hormel could afford to have a star endorsement on chili, a product that sold for way less than a buck at that time. I wonder if they paid him in cans of chili and spam to use for meals or to build a fortress with in the meantime. Since Hormel Chili and Dinty Moore have been around for 75 years, I wonder if they are looking for a new celebrity spokesperson. It would have to be someone that you wouldn’t expect to do a chili commercial, such as an multiple Academy Award winner such as Meryl Streep. It is no coincidence that 20th Century Fox is also celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. No movie tie ins?
I don’t know what I would do with all that chili con carne, as a non beef eater. I usually am relegated to eating the side dish. In those cases, it amounts to a tiny bit of shredded lettuce and cheese intended to top the chili with. However, I have recently discovered that Hormel makes a Turkey chili and a vegetarian chili as well for those who are not big on beef. Of course, eating something out of a can may defeat the purpose of consciously trying to eat healthy, as there is always sodium in canned goods, but it works in a pinch in a mixed food preference environment.
