If you’ve read some of my past “Brand Italy” posts you know I like to rant about companies that try to be Italian without actually trying to be Italian.  There are a whole list of companies that introduce products using Italian food appeal and then label them Italian… the problem is, it’s not remotely Italian.  Dunkin Donuts recently introduced the “Chicken Parmesan Flatbread Sandwich.”  The description of the sandwich from their website is as follows:

“Get a taste of Italy with premium breaded chicken, melted provolone cheese and tangy marinara sauce.”

Really?  I’ve never had one (and it’s safe to say, I never will) but I highly doubt that anyone will “Get a taste of Italy” when they try one. {for the record, I’m not saying the product doesn’t taste good… it might and it’s probably a great product for DD}  What do you think?

Here’s a more realistic photo of a Chicken Parmesan Flatbread Sandwich compliments of the guys over at We Rate Stuff. (Click on the link for their unbiased review on the sandwich)

**To make matters worse (much worse) I heard a commercial for the Chicken Parm Flatbread Sandwich a few weeks ago.  The commercial revolved around an Italian American “tough guy” with an accent making threats to someone to try the sandwich.  I tried to find it online but couldn’t.  I haven’t heard it since but I’m hoping that the Ad Agency or Brand Manager at DD smartened up and pulled it.

If you’re a regular reader of Italyville, you know that I’m passionate about true Italian brands and products.  One of those products is ITALIAN extra virgin olive oil.  I’m not talking about extra virgin olive oil that is brought into Italy from other countries to be mixed with Italian oil or simply bottled in Italy and labeled Italian.  I mean extra virgin olive oil made from olives grown in Italy, oil processed in Italy and oil bottled in Italy without being mixed with oil from other countries.  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against extra virgin olive oil from Spain or Greece or California or any other place that produces a quality product… which they do.  However, my passion for Italian extra virgin olive oil runs deep and is rooted in my families livelihood in Calabria.  Like many southern Italian families, my family has a large olive plantation and my uncle owns an Oleificio (where they make oil.)  So they live or die by the success of the crop and the market price of olive oil.

Italian extra virgin olive oil like many Italian food products has appeal and is perceived as being of high quality (which is true in many cases.)  Unfortunately for that same reason, there are many products of lesser quality that have taken advantage of the reputation of Italian extra virgin olive oil and are profiting by using an Italian name, or purchasing cheaper oil from other countries that are mixed with Italian oil and bottling it in Italy.  The oil itself regardless of its origin may be of high quality but the fact is, it comes down to branding….. and labeling a bottle “Italian extra virgin olive oil” helps sell.  What does all this do?  Bringing oil into Italy from other countries increases supply and it drives the price of Italian olive oil down, which in turn affects local farmers.  Some Italian companies are among the culprits.  This article sheds a little more light on the situation. All this talk about olive oil leads me to this article that I read this week in our local newspaper regarding olive oil standards in the state of Connecticut. There are companies that are passing non-olive oil as extra virgin!! Apparently the state of Connecticut is the first state to pass quality standards for olive oil.

**If you’re in need of some high quality Italian extra virgin olive oil in Calabria or need an Oleificio to process your olives, visit my zio Mario.  He is one of the most genuine, honest people I have ever known and a regular comedian…. and that’s not just because he’s my uncle.

]]> http://italyville.com/2008/11/brand-italy-extra-virgin/feed/ 8 http://italyville.com/2008/07/brand-italy-brands-trying-to-be-italian/ http://italyville.com/2008/07/brand-italy-brands-trying-to-be-italian/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:20:00 +0000 Joe http://italyville.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/brand-italy-brands-trying-to-be-italian/ UPDATE: Just to clarify: I certainly realize that Italians eat packaged foods and other “porcheria” like anyone else and that Italian companies make (in my opinion) junk (like Barilla sauce, which we also have here) My point is this: Regardless of what you name it or who makes it or where you may [...]]]>

UPDATE: Just to clarify: I certainly realize that Italians eat packaged foods and other “porcheria” like anyone else and that Italian companies make (in my opinion) junk (like Barilla sauce, which we also have here) My point is this: Regardless of what you name it or who makes it or where you may have learned it (Olive Garden) it doesn’t make it authentic. Barilla is an Italian company in every way…. but jarring ready to eat pasta sauce is not authentic Italian (profitable maybe but not authentic) Olive Garden may send it’s chefs to Tuscany to learn the secrets of Italian cooking but one glance at their menu and there’s nothing authentic about it. Bertolli’s sauce in a microwavable bag…. well, as Maria from Philly would say, “WTF is that??” So to any company who emails me or any other blogs to ask us to promote your products, I say this: Take a look around, what do we post about? How are we branding ourselves?

Original post:

For the second time this year, I’ve received an email from a company asking me if I would mention their product on Italyville and in exchange they would send me some of their product for free. I don’t have a problem with mentioning products or services that I use or am interested in or products that are authentically Italian…. but they have to fit in with brand Italyville.

So let me just list a few things that authentic Italians would NEVER DO.

1. We don’t buy ready to serve jarred tomato sauce regardless if it’s “Old World Style” or “the way Mama used to make” or “Nonna’s secret recipe” …. We’ve all thought of starting our own brand maybe but WE DON’T BUY IT.
2. We don’t understand how in the world ANYONE could think that a sauce like Prego or Ragu is good or how in the world anyone would eat it. Seriously.
3. Some of us may use microwaves to heat up leftovers or for popcorn but never as a primary cooking appliance. (My mother uses hers to store bread)
4. We don’t buy or eat frozen dinners. We plan life meal to meal… so why would we waste one on a frozen entree?
5. We’ve changed many of our friends’ habits and lives by having them over for dinner. I guess they just didn’t know what food was supposed to taste like ????
6. We often describe pre-packaged products as schifo or porcheria.

Traditional? Who’s tradition are they talking about?

In addition, I would like to add a few Italyville “Brand Italy” facts:

• Just because your company or brand was originally Italian, started by an Italian, has an Italian name and makes a product that you think is Italian…. doesn’t make it Italian.
• Chances are, if you’ve been bought by Unilever, CSC, Kraft, General Mills, etc….. you’ve probably lost some Italianess.

Here are a few examples of “sorry but your brand trying to be Italian isn’t working”

• Burger King’s Italian Chicken Parm Sandwich (really? stick to burgers BK)
• as mentioned above, Prego and Ragu (enough said)
• Bertolli’s microwavable sauce in a bag…. (what the? a double negative doesn’t make a positive in this case and believe me, there are no real Italian chefs getting upset at any of Bertolli’s products ANYWHERE.)
• Olive Garden (first of all, I don’t believe there is a cooking school in Tuscany that their employees go to…. and if there is, who’s running it? not a real Italian chef!!)

Those are just a few, I would love to hear about your favorite “Trying to be Italian” brands.

I took this photo at the Brimfield Antique Fair…. there’s something about a Vespa isn’t there? Vespa is an Italian “Super Brand” I’ll be posting more on Italian brands and Italian branding soon since brand marketing is what I do for a living. This Vespa reminded me of a Luna Pop song “50 Special.” the video is a little corny but there’s no denying that the song is catchy! I included the lyrics as well. Enjoy e buona giornata!