The Frito Twist

NOTE: the text below calls it a 78, but it looks pretty much like a 45 to me.

This 78 rpm record was made by the PAMS (Production, Advertising, Merchandising Service) production company in February 1962 for the Frito-Lay company to promote its Fritos snack food with a dedicated jingle, the “Frito-Twist.” The disc’s white paper label bears the Fritos and PAMS logos on both sides. Side A plays “The Frito Twist,” and Side B contains the instructional “How to Twist.” (In earlier versions of this promotional record, side A featured “Dallas: My Home Town” with “The Frito Twist” on side B.) The music for the “Frito Twist” was written by Euel Box, a Dallas-based composer and arranger best known for his work on the “Benji” movies of the 1970s and 80s, and a music director for the PAMS company. The sound engineer on the recording was Dick McGrew (as noted in the fine print along the edge of the record).The Dallas-based PAMS production company was founded in 1951 by William B. Meeks, Jr., often credited as the creator of the musical station break. In the 1950s-1970s, advertisers looked to music and dedicated jingles to help promote their products. They aimed branded dance fads in particular at teenagers and young adults.

More info here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 20, 2021 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Music, Junk Food, 1960s, Dance

The Singing Wastebaskets

Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 07, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Surrealism, Junk Food, 1970s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

Follies of the Madmen #491

"Our gum will alter your irises!"

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 16, 2020 - Comments (5)
Category: Body Modifications, Business, Advertising, Junk Food, 1910s, Eyes and Vision

Burger King’s Secret Ingredient

It's people!!!

Tallahassee Democrat Sun - Feb 28, 1999

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 30, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Cannibalism, Advertising, Junk Food, 1990s

The Music of Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders was apparently a music fan. During the late 1960s, while he still owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, he released a number of albums which were sold at his restaurants.

His first record, released in 1966, was "Favorite Old Church Hymns recorded by The Colonel's Mandolin Band for the glorification of Christ."



The story goes, as reported by the Danville Advocate-Messenger (Nov 6, 1967), that "a group of sixth-graders originally became interested in mandolins after their teacher brought an instrument to the school. When the children, who lived near Colonel Sanders, had formed a band and played many times, they performed for him and he forthwith bought them all new mandolins and assisted them in making a record." In fact, he decided to print 30,000 copies of the record, almost none of which sold.

Vice.com reports that thousands of copies of the record are still in a storage warehouse in Kentucky, and you can buy one if you visit the original KFC location in Corbin, Kentucky.

The other albums he released were more generic music compilations. The best title among the lot is Colonel Sanders' Tijuana Picnic, which sounds vaguely obscene, but was just a collection of Tijuana Brass knockoffs. You can listen to the whole album on YouTube (clip below).

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 18, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Music, Junk Food, 1960s

Sugar Doping

1924: Despite being fed sweet hot tea and peppermint creams in an experimental attempt to increase their energy, the Yale soccer team lost to the visiting team by 5 to 1.

Bridgeport Telegram - Nov 11, 1924

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 10, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Sports, Experiments, Junk Food, Nutrition, 1920s

Halloween Donut Party

Throughout the 1950s, the donut industry tried hard to make Donut Parties a Halloween tradition. Their PR men also claimed that donuts could help make Halloween "more nutritious."

San Bernardino County Sun - Oct 30, 1957

San Bernardino County Sun - Oct 30, 1957

Oct 23, 1955 - “Dos & Don’ts for Halloween Donut Party”

The Salem News - Oct 17, 1955

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 31, 2019 - Comments (4)
Category: Food, Junk Food, Nutrition, Halloween

Cheetos Pareidolia

I promise this will be my last Cheetos-themed post for a while. But for some reason, I've been coming across a lot of weird stuff about Cheetos recently.

The latest is Cheetos pareidolia, which is the phenomenon of Cheetos that look like things. Often these unique Cheetos end up on eBay, where they command high prices. For instance, right now, for only $650, you can buy a Cheeto shaped like a shrimp.



In 2017, a man found a Cheeto shaped like the Virgin Mary, and he promptly put it up for sale.



Also in 2017, a Cheeto shaped like the gorilla Harambe almost sold for $100,000.



And some, such as photographer Andy Huot, find inspiration in the many shapes of Cheetos. Huot has an Instagram page dedicated to what he calls 'cheese curl art'. Below is his version of the March of Progress, rendered in Cheetos.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 10, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Art, Junk Food, Pareidolia

Cheetos Fashion

I didn’t realize this when I posted yesterday about Cheetos lip balm, but it turns out that this past week Cheetos announced it would be hosting the brands first-ever runway show, as part of New York Fashion Week. From the press release:

Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 08, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Fashion, Junk Food

Cheetos Lip Balm

A number of sites (such as USA Today) list Cheetos Lip Balm as one of the greatest product flops of all time. I don't agree. It was definitely weird, but I can't find any evidence it flopped.

Some context: it came on the market in 2005, created by Lotta Luv, a New York cosmetics company that specialized in licensing flavors from well-known brands. Some of the other odd lip-balm flavors they offered included Hostess Ding Dongs, Cracker Jack, Junior Mints, fourteen flavors of Snapple, and Lay’s Sour Cream and Onion. Their target market was girls 8 to 14. Apparently, young girls loved these weird lip balms.

As far as I can tell, the Cheetos lip balm remained available until 2011, which doesn’t seem like a flop.

Arizona Daily Star - Mar 18, 2004

Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 07, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Products, Junk Food