• bss03@infosec.pub
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    11 hours ago

    Upvoted because the headline is funny, but it’s not true or at least hyperbolic. The third paragraph in the article gives it away:

    The device, which resembles the lid of one of Prego’s pasta jars, seems to be more of a one-off doodad than an indicator that Prego is making a serious foray into being a tech company.

  • scytale@piefed.zip
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    23 hours ago

    I thought at first it’s a pivot to AI like what AllBirds did, but:

    Prego says that the screen-free Connection Keeper has no wifi or Bluetooth, doesn’t hook up to the cloud, and doesn’t pack any AI features. The point, in fact, is that it’s supposed to help families disconnect, encouraging everyone to put their phones away during dinner and live in the moment.

    “Everything now is AI, and everyone has their phones on the table,” Elyce Henkin, a managing director of StoryCorps studios and brand partnerships, told Wired. “It interrupts the conversation and the flow. We wanted to get rid of that and go back to the basics and have everyone talking to each other.”

    Using the gadget is simple. Just press a button, and the device’s two microphones begin recording, and you press the button again to make it stop. You can upload your recordings to StoryCorps’ website after manually transferring them to your computer using a cable — and if you opt in, share it with the company, which makes physical copies of its recordings and adds them to its collection in the Library of Congress.

    So it’s essentially just a $20 audio recorder? Still a weird product from a pasta brand.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      18 hours ago

      I’m 90% sure it’s not to actually be used. It’s to make people post about it online and have their brand pop up. It’s a product that requires no R&D and they can create a nice story of their product connecting families. It’s good marketing honestly. It’s got people talking about it here at least without even realizing they’re sharing an ad.

    • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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      23 hours ago

      And not even good cheap pasta sauce. Store brands are often times much much better for half to almost a quarter of the price.

      • deathbird@mander.xyz
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        23 hours ago

        In my experience store brands are maybe 75% the price of Prego, and comparable quality. It’s not high end but it’s also not vastly overpriced. Maybe $3-4 a jar vs $2-3 for store brand, or $7-10 for the fancy brands.

        • Peasley@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          i really dislike Prego: too sweet for me and the flavor is weak

          my grocery store has nice canned San Marzano-type tomatoes for about $4 for a big can. Enough to make maybe 2 jars of sauce.

          You need to add your own herbs, spices, and simmer a bit but the end result is generally as good as the $10/jar fancy brands. I keep a fancy brand jar in the cupboard in case i don’t have time, but i try to simmer my own sauce as often as possible

          My go-to herbs are coyote mint, yerba buena (Clinopodium), Mexican oregano (Lippia) and california bay leaf. i will also throw in some toasted garlic and some hard cheese when on hand

          • deathbird@mander.xyz
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            7 hours ago

            There are varieties made with little or even no sugar.

            I respect the DIY sauce game, but my point was that if you’re buying pre-made sauce it’s neither pricey nor necessarily loaded with sugar.

          • mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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            19 hours ago

            yeah it’s ketchup.

            if I have to buy a sauce because I don’t have time to make some, it’s newman’s own sockarooni.

        • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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          22 hours ago

          I get great value and best choice(?) and they beat the crap out of not only prego but some other higher end pasta sauces as well. Especially great value. I was super surprised by them. And they are like $1.50 vs $4-6 for the various prego and analogs. And I actually think the great value is better than most premiums in the ~$10 range. Carbone might be the one that is hands and fists above all others.

          • deathbird@mander.xyz
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            3 hours ago

            Great Value is Walmart and I just won’t shop there. I can say I notice little difference (in a good way) between lower end brand names like Ragu or Prego and various store brands. I just don’t see the price difference as much though. Maybe a dollar’s difference. I’m still a store brand buyer, but I’m more price sensitive than taste sensitive on the question.

        • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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          21 hours ago

          I dare you to try great value marinara just as it is straight out the bottle. I may add some garlic to it and maybe some red pepper flakes from a pizza place that didn’t get used on the pizza, but the shit is awesome unadulterated.

          But you are absolutely right, and I tend to put a little cayenne and fresh ground black pepper in anything I cook.

    • Almacca@aussie.zone
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      20 hours ago

      Pretty sure no-one puts the used jar of sauce on the table when they’re eating.

        • Almacca@aussie.zone
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          17 hours ago

          Due to not looking carefully enough, I thought it was the actual jar lid. Derp. Turns out it’s a separate product. I still can’t see anyone using it, though.

          • halfapage@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            nah you’re good, the remark was sarcastically pointed at their marketing department

            no sane person should touch this shit nugget with a stick

        • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Maybe that’s what they think people like?

          Art and life are a bit blurry here, what with all the marketing.

    • Carighan Maconar@piefed.world
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      21 hours ago

      It’s ultra weird, although I guess I… could kinda see how someone wants to keep a diary of family dinner conversations?

      You can just use your phone to record those of course, but a dedicated device might be easier to use. Since it’s not cloud-connected and you transfer off of it manually anyways, fiiiiiiineee I guess? 🤷

  • SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    17 hours ago

    This is kinda nothing?

    Prego isn’t “pivoting” they’re releasing a one-off branded novelty product as a publicity stunt. Also, you worded this as alarmingly as possible when you didn’t need to.

    Edit: Sorry, the article worded the headline as alarmingly as possible. Didn’t mean to shoot the messenger.

  • CombatWombat@feddit.online
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    22 hours ago

    Okay, so Campbell’s owns a bunch of brands: Campbell’s, Prego, Swanson, Pace, Snyder’s, and Pepperidge Farms. Campbell’s could have used any brand to launch this product, so my biggest question is: why not under the Pepperidge Farms brand? Pepperidge Farms remembers would have been the perfect ad campaign for this launch.

  • MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    What-- what is this title? It… It’s not I don’t believe it. I’m not in denial, I’m just thinking how did it start to get this chaotic. Bet if I went back to my 2016 self and said “in the future our lids will spy on us and AI will replace out jobs” I’d be shocked, probably not even believing myself.

  • Jarix@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    I actually kind of want one when playing Once Upon A Time. Assuming it has no wireless connectivity in any way

  • finalarbiter@piefed.social
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    22 hours ago

    JFC. Add that to the list of brands I’m not fucking buying anymore.

    THEY MAKE TOMATO SAUCE. WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY TRYING TO SELL LITERAL WIRETAPS

      • finalarbiter@piefed.social
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        22 hours ago

        I did, but go off I guess. It’s fucking creepy to put a recording device at the dinner table, regardless of whether it’s a ‘dumb’ recording device or some bullshit slop device.

    • Allero@lemmy.today
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      22 hours ago

      It’s not a wiretap, and it has no connectivity at all. Worth reading the full article.