Cadbury Cooks Up BBQ Recipe: Dr. Pepper Sauce Anyone?
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Someone at Cadbury Schweppes has been into the sauce. The beverage giant is teaming up with Vita Food Products this week to introduce three new BBQ sauces and marinades at the Fancy Food Show. The sauces are based on--get ready--Dr. Pepper, A&W Root Beer, and 7UP (7UP on ribs? Not right).
According to Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages Associate Licensing Manager (man, that’s a long title) Megan May, “Through the years, soda-flavored barbecue sauces have become a great American tradition in culinary creativity.” WHAT? I searched the internet and found a couple recipes for making BBQ sauce with Coke, but that hardly qualifies as a long-time great American tradition. Mixing Coke with rum is a great American tradition.
But this new enterprise kinda makes sense in that sodas are sweet and BBQ sauces are sweet (at least they held back on making sauce out of Clamato juice). And you have to give them credit for trying to extend the brand. But 7UP? Marinating--anything? Maybe it’s me. I still haven’t gotten past my childhood experience with 7UP in one of its earlier attempts to be something other than a fun drink: a remedy for nausea. I was always forced to drink it and eat saltine crackers when I was sick. Now, years later, just seeing the green can makes me a little ill.
CHINESE PHONE WARS
There are basically only two mobile phone companies in the world’s most populous nation: China Unicomand China Mobile. But apparently there’s not enough room for both in a country of 477 million cell phone subscribers. So they’ve launched a battle for market share. Not a price war--Chinese regulations don’t allow for that. Instead, the Financial Timesreports the two have engaged in a beer war. Unicom launched the first bottle battle by offering new customers in the eastern city of Siquan a dozen bottles of local brew. China Mobile responded with two free CRATES of beer (I assume that’s two dozen bottles, though I’ve never actually seen a Chinese crate of beer).
Apparently, this happens a lot there. Past battles have included free handouts of towels, umbrellas, cooking oil, woks, washing power, even a special mosquito repellent gift set. Maybe someday they’ll hand out free bottles of 7UP barbecue sauce.
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