How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
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How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
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Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#2Well, now I'm hungry.
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#3For some reason I want to associate this with the fact that names that become generic can make you lose your trademark. I'm thinking of course of Kleenex (brand tissues) and Velcro (brand hook & loop fasteners), both of which are so synonymous with the entire category that my spell check doesn't underline them.
I want to think of that as a monopoly on the concept, and if you have that, then you lose control simply because the public equates the name with the thing solely. I think this is fair as a monopoly is not welcomed generally, so it makes sense that you can have something so popular it loses its trademark and becomes a commodity in the mind.
This story here however makes me want bacon now a little less, though.
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#4Believe it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is barely a century old
I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all.
In the 1920s, Bernays was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company – producers of everything from pork products to the nostalgic Beech-Nut bubble gum. Beech-Nut wanted to increase consumer demand for bacon. Bernays turned to his agency’s internal doctor and asked him whether a heavier breakfast might be more beneficial for the American public. Knowing which way his bread was buttered, the doctor confirmed Bernays suspicion and wrote to five thousand of his doctors friends asking them to confirm it as well. This ‘study’ of doctors encouraging the American public to eat a heavier breakfast – namely ‘Bacon and Eggs’ – was published in major newspapers and magazines of the time to great success. Beech-Nut’s profits rose sharply thanks to Bernays and his team of medical professionals.
The irony is that this is at least half right. Eating protein for breakfast is considered healthy. Perhaps there are better ways to get protein than bacon and fried eggs, but it's not completely off base.
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#5Somewhat OT but there is this old story - a startup is just like bacon and eggs.
In a startup, all employees are contributors while the founders are commited. Same as in bacon and eggs. The chickens are contributors but the pigs are commited.
And the outcome? If you want the biggest share you need to be a pig. And you can only do that if you are not a chicken.
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#6I can't remember off the top of my head, but it's amazing how many of our american "traditions" are a result of marketing.
While there is nothing inherently bad about this, it definitely gives me a sense that something is not authentic when I come to learn it was the result of a marketing campaign.
This bacon and eggs breakfast is just one example. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is another. Can anyone recall any others?
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#7This appears to be a sample of one of their newspaper announcements from 1922 (today was the first time I noticed that Google has replaced the ritual of asking a librarian for microfiche rolls).
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19220917&id=X...
It's interesting that there's a small part at the end where it mentions that a heavy lunch is best, but most of the article is about a heavy breakfast.
It seems like a lighter breakfast would be the healthier option, but I can't seem to find any studies to back that up.
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#8This is hardly the most sinister of Edward Bernays' campaigns. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torches_of_Freedom
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#9Somewhat OT but there is this old story - a startup is just like bacon and eggs. In a startup, all employees are contributors while the founders are commited. Same as in bacon and eggs. The chickens are contributors but the pigs are commited. And the outcome? If you want the biggest share you need to be a pig. And you can only do that if you are not a chicken.
Yeah but what happens to the pigs in the end? Chickens are still around afterwards to lay more eggs.
Re: How ‘Bacon and Eggs’ Became the American Breakfast
#10Believe it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is barely a century old I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all. In the 1920s, Bernays was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company – producers of everything from pork products to the nostalgic Beech-Nut bubble gum. Beech-Nut wanted to increase consumer demand for bacon. Bernays turned to his agency’s internal doctor and asked…
Citation for the protein assertion?