Celebrity Chefs

Why is it that everything now needs a celebrity chef to endorse it? When all this shenanigans started it was tolerable and it made sense to some extent. Celebrity chefs that we had a vague idea of would bang on and on about how good this certain product was. It started out as food products. Nigella Lawson sensually enunciates her way through a tea commercial whilst Curtis Stone is fondling the fruit and veg (oo-err) in our local supermarket adverts.

Chefs who write cook books, have cooking shows and teach us how to cook now telling us the benefits of certain foods over others. It made sense.

Next we have some "celebrity chef" that I had never heard of pop up in a dominos pizza ad. And another with KFC. It seems odd to me that a chef, who understands the basics of food and their nutritional content, would decide to speak the so-called benefits of the new fatty sandwich or pizza. Or pizza sandwich. I guess everyone has their price. And the viewers have their conscience that tiny but clearer.

Next came a Hungry Jack's ad (it's like Burger King) which had a "gourmet chef recipe" for their latest burger. There was no actual chef... just the recipe. The whole chef element has been replaced. All I can imagine is a phantom chef somewhere in the seedy underground warehouse of Hungry Jack's being held in shackles and chains making fancy burger recipes every hour of the day in order to avoid another whipping.

Soon they'll be endorsing anything from tyres to underwear to sombreros to birth control. It's getting weird.

Eventually they will have stooped so low and been paid so much that I can imagine a big billboard with Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver (one of the really big name celeb chefs who seem to care a lot about world issues) standing next to starving African children holding a glass of dirty water with the words "when I'm in poverty I only drink contaminated water. There is nothing else like it! Nothing at all!" and giving a cheesy grin. It's only a matter of time.

Just a Thought: Careers

Isn’t it ironic (don’t ya think?) that all the industries that are considered ‘feminine’ are ruled by men? I don’t understand how blokes can go around thinking that fashion and food are girly career choices. I mean, most of the world renowned fashion designers and chefs are men. Sure, there’s probably loads of women in each of these industries but the ones at the top are usually men – why is this? I could go on a feminist rant and say that it’s the case in every industry because our Western capitalist society is inherently patriarchal – but I won’t.

It just seems really funny to me that there would be weirdness in some families when a son says to a father “Dad, I want to be a fashion designer/chef”.

How are these “girly” careers? Traditionally, women are the ones who cook and take an interest in clothes but it’s the highest peak of these workplaces that are occupied by men.

Just a thought...