Hello Irwin,
Thanks for writing to share your thoughts about our product. We apologize that you are disappointed with this change. We understand that taste is highly individual preference. Before introducing our products, they are subjected to extensive consumer taste testing. Products are then reevaluated on a regular basis, and formulation changes may occur.
We will forward your comments to the appropriate staff, and you will be receiving a complimentary coupon selection for products from the Unilever Bestfoods family of brands.
Best regards,Your friends at Wish-Bone
tn
First of all, you are NOT my friends anymore, okay Wishbone? And if you understand that taste is "highly individual preference", which by the way I don't even think is proper grammer, than why would you not keep regular Italian and have the extra spices thing as a separate product? And who are these consumers that you're testing it on? Monkeys? Have they been eating your salad dressing for 15 years? I doubt it. (as to the shitty grammar, I asked Pamie if that was as bad as I thought it was, and she pointed out that the person writing this probably hasn't had to write a letter like this in his entire tenure with Wishbone. He was probably so excited to get my complaint that he just strung his 3 most official sounding words together and hoped it would work out)
And by the way, I made it clear it my letter that I was uninterested in the other products from the "family of brands". That was the whole point of my letter! The rest of your shit sucks! Apparently, not only do the people at WishBone not know how to put sentences together properly, they also failed the reading comprehension portion of the SAT's.
Meanwhile, my whole world is turned upside down. I have to find a new salad dressing through trial and error, do you understand how expensive that is? I've got 4 bottles in my fridge right now, all duds, and I'm out 13 bucks!
Damn you, Wishbone, damn you and your extra herbs and spices!
25 comments:
irw- maybe i can help you out. i feel bad that you're distressed. turns out that i do some business with unilever, who produces your wishbone dressing. a division of unilever produces some sauces for my company. ill get back to you. in the meantime, stay strong.. (fyi.. you're a little crazy but i'm still willing to help the cause)
As luck would have it, I work with Unilvever too - in fact, I work on the advertising for Wishbone.
You my find this hard to believe, but they get HUNDREDS of letters like yours. When they decided to change the formulation they knew it would be controversial amongst their core group of...er...Wishbone Italian enthusiasts (that's right! you are not alone! maybe you should start a club or a support group or possibly an angry mob?).
Anyway, Unilever has something they call the "test kitchen" which is basically a huge kitchen with about 25 stoves and cooking areas and an army of "food technicians" and dieticians who spend all day making food and feeding it to anyone they can round up to taste it. It's all very sci-fi and yet cozy. So my point is - I was one of the guinea pigs who tried the new Italian formula and remarked on its inferior taste. By then it was too late to change it but I did learn that I was not alone in my distaste for the new stuff.
All of that was the set-up for this key piece of information: apparently, the person responsible for greenlighting the new Wishbone Italian formula has been fired. Make of that what you will. I'm just saying.
Dude, I know all about product love and devotion. I have a special place in my heart for Space Food Sticks- a product from my youth that disappeared, never to return, despite my petitions and letters. As for the letter you received from Wishbone, it was in all likelihood, a form letter. At the beginning of my former career with a certain auto company whose logo isn't a big blue oval, I was responsible (along with at least 100 other people) for working on their customer service phone line. This job also entailed reading customer letters, many of which were like your letter, lamenting the discontinuation of a certain product or feature. The cold clinical truth of corporate customer love? There isn't any. The customer letter is logged into the database, a drop-menu is activated, and the appropriate form letter is generated. Fini. Your personal expression of love and devotion for a salad dressing (or automobile) was responded to in a passionless, robotic, and,like you pointed out, misinterpreted, way. You love Wishbone, but Wishbone does not love you- they love people who will find a way to love another one of their products, even if it has to be forced on them. Their discussions with you will always carry a message about their "family of brands," acting as though you never said you don't like any of their other products. You see Irwin, it isn't about you, it is about them. Sorry about that. I will say that as I moved up at said company, I did write my own letters to customers and would call them- but their issues were usually of a different nature by that point in my career. As for salad dressings, I really like Four Seas Viva Italian in the packet. Yes, it is a little more work because you have to mix it with water and vinegar, but...Delish!
I know exactly how you feel, I too once loved a salad dressing... Creamy Cucumber by Kraft. It was the only way my mom could get me to eat vegetables. I would also use it on chicken and rice and just about anything. Then it disappeared, for years. One day my mom came upon a new flavor from Kraft Cucumber Ranch, it was similar, but then came Light Done Right Cucumber Ranch which is exactly the same! I don't eat it anymore though, that's what 6 years of waiting will do. May I recommend Whole Foods in your search of Salad dressing, they are willing to sample out products (yes give you free bottles of salad dressing) if you tell them your story.
All of that was the set-up for this key piece of information: apparently, the person responsible for greenlighting the new Wishbone Italian formula has been fired. Make of that what you will. I'm just saying.
Man, talk about making Irwin's day.
Wow. I feel your pain too. I hate when they do shit like this. St. Ives appears to have discontinued their medicated apricot face scrub, and I'm actually breaking out since I was cruelly forced to stop using it!
Though, on the grammar front... "then." I know, it's okay - your rage gives you a free pass!
I used to work for a restaurant company and I can tell you that any time something is changed in the food industry; they expect a certain amount of complaints. The only thing that actually drives the changes is sales. We could have 100,000,000 complaints, but if the sales for the new predict are good then the new thing will stick. They usually don't change things unless they feel like they can make more $ anyhow. They are also probably right about the testing too, my company always did extensive testing, but it would be done poorly. For example, they often would only test new things in Boulder, CO (and it is a very unique place) or they would test the chili macaroni and cheese in the middle of summer when no one wanted chili mac. Really, what I’m getting at there though is that it is all driven by sales ultimately so if they come back with your favored product, try and talk everyone you know into buying it or it won’t stick.
corporate america can eat a you know what...
may i suggest starting a website:
www.boycottnewwishboneitalian.com
a good friend of mine once said - don't give up, don't ever give up!
keep on fighting the good fight brother, don't let the man keep you down...ATTICA! ATTICA!
i feel your pain! throughout middle school, i became utterly addicted to O'Boisies, a baked potato chip that wasn't all flat and reconstituted like the baked chips now. my friends and i ate them constantly. frankly, i'm shocked that our purchasing power alone wasn't enough to keep the line going, but apparently not, because the year i started high school i went to get a celebratory bag, and...no more O'Boisies. ever. why!!!!!!
I've been loving these comments! Especially the one where the guy who changed the formula got fired, and also the one where the person said "fyi: you're a little crazy".
So here is my plan: I am going to try and get Wishbone to send me any leftovers they have of my favorite Italian, but in the meantime, test drive a new salad dressing every week. The trial and error is damn pricey, but let's face it, replacing a legend is a tall task and no one said it would be easy.
Sadly, Space Food Sticks, unlike original Wishbone dressing, are considered nostalgia food and can be purchased through the power of the Internet (sometime in fall 2006):
http://www.oldtimecandy.com/space-food-sticks.htm
Is there a Irwin Handleman Salad Dressing Research Fund to donate to? No need to submit a proposal, but I would like to see published results.
Wishbone Italian was always our standard spaghetti-dinner accompaniment growing up. I didn't realize they'd changed it. Dang. In lieu of a miraculous return, you might want to add Bernstein's Restaurant Recipe Italian to your trial-and-error list. It's not the same, but it might be close enough to the ballpark for emergency purposes. FYI.
Oh my God. I ate and loved both Creamy Cucumber dressing and O'Boisie's potato chips. I had forgotten they are extinct. Oh, the memories. I stopped eating fast food when McDonald's got rid of the McChicken sandwich and replaced it with the Crispy Chicken- nowhere near as gooey and delicious. Did they ever bring it back?
Nostalgia whiplash over the O'Boises. Oh, man, those were good with a glass of whole milk.
... I was kind of a big kid.
http://www.foodservicedirect.com/index.cfm/S/26/CLID/249/N/3855/Wishbone_-_Italian_Dressing.htm
They've got it by the case my brother, by the case!
Meijer, a midwestern food chain, has a store brand that is pretty close.
holy crap! they DO have it by the case! i owe you huge! do i know you? identify yourself so you can be properly thanks. you rock
I got to this blog researching my mom's potato salad recipe which requires Wishbone Italian salad dressing (only this would do, nothing else tastes the same...) and I am shocked and appalled at this discontinuation news. I have stocked piled this stuff only because there was a sale and I had coupons. Now what to do? This is a family tradition that goes back decades. I'm beside myself with grief and huge concern...
Irwin I feel your pain too. I used Wishbone Italian Dressing for everything (steak, checken, salad and others). Once I tried the new stuff I was so pissed. I called and complained - they said I was the ONLY ONE that complained. So I went to different stores looking for the orginal dressing and stocked up on about 8 or so bottles. I've limited myself a lot but now I am down to my last bottle. I'm not sure what to do. If anyone has any ideas of what we can do, let me know.
Before you order a case, look closer at the bottle "now bursting with more flavor". This is the new stuff.
Just called Wishbone's 1-800 # to make my long overdue complaint.... spoke w/ Lynn who was very nice, but NOT NICE ENOUGH TO GET THE ORIGINAL RECIPE BACK ON STORE SHELVES! She was nice enough (again) to say she'd register my complaint w/ the Wishbone gods-that-be. Not good enough! I've been eating Wishbone Italian on everything from salads to plain pasta to marinaded meats since I was weaned to solid foods (mid 1960's). I can only pray that there's not a conspiracy out there to change the A-1 Steak Sauce recipe... I might not recover!
I've been enjoying wishbone salad dressings for as long as I can remember Whom ever gave the go ahead to change wishbone recipes should be shot . My family and I are so disappointed in this new product we're not going to buy it anymore and are now making our own salad dressings.I'm 60 yrs old and I'm very saddened to see my favorite products being changed this way . The new dressings really stink , sorry gentlemen but that's the truth.
Thank you Irwin! I appreciate your letter to Wishbone. It was my favorite dressing too. Once upon a time I liked Viva Italian dressing until they decided to add more herbs and less flavor. I switched to Wishbone and they changed too. I'm sure the new formula is a bit cheaper to make. The corporation has to answer to the share holders and figure out a way to increase profitability.
I'm do glad to find out I'm not alone!y grandmother used to bring Wishbone Italian dressing in her PURSE to restaurants when I was little so that I could dip my chicken in it! (I'm obsessed, I know.) I live in Florida and Publix is the major grocery store here...the "store brand" gOt me through but they've now changed THAT to match the new wishbone!!!! I'm on my last tiny but left from February left in my fridge. So disappointing!!!!
Ugh!!! Typos because I'm typing on my phone!
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