April is one cheesy month. There are many national observances worth noting including:
National Humor Month
National Card and Letter Writing Month
National Poetry Month
National Kite Month
National Straw Hat Month
National Grilled Cheese Month
Kraft Singles would like you to observe the month by going to their site,I Heart Grilled Cheese,and write why you love Kraft Singles in 50 words or less. Kraft will draw 500 winners per week to receive a free package of Kraft Singles.
According to Ad Age (”Kraft Pays Homage to Grilled Cheese“),Kraft will also be hosting the largest grilled cheese cooking competition. The event called the 1st 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational,will be held on April 25th in Los Angeles.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=135824
Okay,initially I thought grilled cheese would have as much enthusiasm as the straw hat. However,the more I researched the grilled cheese,the more I found an enthusiastic undercurrent sandwich (or “sammich” per the grilled cheese enthusiast). As you can see from the YouTube video (1st 6th Annual Competition on YouTube),attendees really get into the event. A lot of the enthusiasm comes from the creativity of sandwich assembly. For example,there are three categories in the competition:
The Missionary Position:Your standard grilled cheese:basic bread,butter and cheese.
The Kama Sutra:A freestyle category where the only requirement is the sandwich is 60% cheese.
The Honey Pot:Think grilled cheese for desert.
So is Kraft building on the passion?
Although Kraft believes they will be overwhelmed with responses (per Ad Age),I find their experience underwhelming. The “I Heart Grilled Cheese” site is a one-page site where users can enter their 50 word love note to Kraft Singles—yet none of the entries are published,shared,or voted upon. In fact Kraft isn’t sure what they will be doing with the notes. They may “possibly” put them on the Kraft Singles site at a later date.
In my opinion Kraft should take the enthusiasm from the invitational and generate a month long experience online—Think UGGC (User Generated Grilled Cheese). The site would be a true national celebration of the iconic sammich. The UGGC would be entered (and awarded) by category (expanding on the invitational categories),and entrants would submit a photo/video of their creation along with a corresponding recipe. The UGGC content would be wrapped in an online community (think UGGC site + facebook + youtube) where people can comment,vote,and share the recipes.
With all that said,if you are still not a fan of grilled cheese,stay tuned,May is National Hamburger Month. I wonder how Wendy,Ronald and the King will celebrate?
