Recently I was contacted by the makers of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. Just that is funny in itself! With very little searching on my site they could've found what I think of that stuff. I thought you might like a laugh so I’m posting our email exchange…
Hi Kelly!
Just a short note to introduce myself; our agency is a nationally known word of mouth marketing company.
We love your straight forward approach to educating your readers on healthy eating and are familiar with your reputation working as an accomplished home cook. I’ve noticed that you have written about butter substitutes including I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! before and I would like to get your point-of-view on healthy eating and making smart choices.
Right now, we’re working on a program with Unilever where we’re curious to hear your perspective on butter substitutes, as well as see if there are any opportunities to work with you to educate your readers.
So of course I couldn't resist…
“What would you like to know specifically?”
I wanted to ask a few questions to gauge your use of butter and butter substitutes in regards to which you use, any brands you prefer, etc. I'll include the questions below…
If you have a negative opinion on any of the below products/ subjects please let us know, we want to gather as much information as possible – good or bad.
* Are you familiar with the product “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!”?
* If “YES”, what do you think of it? What experiences have you had with the product?
* Do you use it regularly? If so, why do you use it more often than butter or margarine?
* Do you have any buttery spreads in your refrigerator right now?
* If NO, what do you use instead?
* What is your debate between butter and butter substitutes?
* What would motivate you to use it more often?
* In general, are you a fan of healthier butter substitutes?
* If yes, why? What brand do you prefer?
* What do you educate your readers and clients about most often?
* How often are you communicating? Do you have an opportunity to educate people outside of your blog and consulting business such as cooking regularly with friends, cooking demonstrations or classes or public appearances?
* Have you recommended or addressed healthy eating/butter substitutes/making better nutritional decisions before either to friends or readers?
* What do you generally recommend and why?
* What is the main concern when talking with people about healthier eating/lifestyles/nutrition choices? What are their reasons for choosing butter or margarine or a buttery soft spread? What helps motivate them to choose a healthier option?
* What other things do your audiences care about when it comes to making better choices?
We would love to send you a VIP kit including a sample of our product, coupons, information and recipes. If you’re interested in receiving one please send us your address.
Lastly, do you have any upcoming educational opportunities we could provide you information with in addition to the VIP kit?
Thanks, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions!
Now I was starting to feel kind of bad for this gal, knowing how much fun I was going to have answering her questions, and then I got this:
Hey Kelly:
Thanks for your time and feedback! We truly value your opinion…
Funny thing. This was purely a research project, and as we did a little more of our own, we saw your post from last year, which filled us in on your thoughts about “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!”… I think we have what we need.
It's pretty obvious that they actually did not value my opinion, ha! So I just replied with this:
“You've been very sweet in your emails and just for you personally and for your own health, I hope you'll do even more research and see that “healthier butter spreads” are exactly the opposite.
Take care!
Kelly”
What do you think? Should I have gone so easy on her?
Isn't it sad that they, and many people out in the world, still think that a real food with ONLY cream and salt listed on the label is worse for them than a “food” loaded with unpronounceable fake chemical ingredients made in a factory?! And it's full of disgusting GMO vegetable oils that are high in omega 6's and have NO benefit to our bodies! As a matter of fact, they're one of THE worst culprits in what is the true cause of heart disease! WOW don't get me goin'. I guess it's good that I didn't let loose on her.
Did you see the post about when I almost got into a ‘butter fight' with someone?!
Confused about fats?
- There's a lot of info for you at this healthy fats post
- Or get my friend, Sarah's, book (mentioned in the link above about the butter fight): Get Your Fats Straight!
While this is straight up nasty for your body, I will say, that in the grand scheme of transparency and corporation honestly, this is a POSITIVE step in the right direction, possibly too little too late, but STILL, there is movement on the right path!
I would like to see a documentary on the history of the oil seed industry’s attack on dairy products, particularly butter.
Just like “minimal pesticides”… It’s so relative!! I wouldn’t touch that crap with 10 foot pole.
Wasn’t that right before the corporate trolls started showing up?
I can’t believe people still eat this stuff!
If the fine print was the bold print on product packaging for real, I wonder if people would still buy this junk.
My favorite was the recant letter. Wasn’t it after you put them on blast? hehe
I can’t believe these people…
You have changed your taste in “I can’t believe it is not butter”if it stays that way I will no longer buy your product.ever since it went from the round tubs to the ob long tubs the taste is not there. I have been using your butter for 25 years. The only question I have is why?
Nick,
It’s time you got off this stuff anyway, it’s disgusting and the fake oils in it are terrible for your health.
Kelly
Thanks for ans my question but like I tried to tell you I’ve been using this butter for at least 25 yrs and I am 80 years old and in excellent health. So I think it blows your theory all to h—.i really do not think that our government would allow this corp. to sell it .
I’m glad you’re in great health, and would guess that your diet is pretty good otherwise, but would disagree HUGELY that our government can be trusted to keep our food supply safe.
Kelly
(You might want to read this book to learn more: http://amzn.to/14SR7hM)
Perfectly handled if you ask me. The softer that we can handle people like this, the better chance we have to reach them. One can hope, right?
My daughter has always said that she likes margarine better than butter. Well, when she comes to my house, there is no margarine, so she’s stuck with the real thing. About two months ago she said “Mom, I don’t know why but toast at your house tastes so much better. I’m getting addicted to toast with real butter.” Now, she has no margarine in her house. Just had to laugh. It takes time, sometimes, if you’ve never had something before, to acquire a taste for it.
That makes me happy – hoping my kids will be drawn to only the good stuff as they go off on their own!
Kelly
She made some toast the other morning and the kids had eaten all the butter so she used margarine. She was very angry. “Just doesn’t taste the same.”
You were very gracious, no surprise, and this is just hilarious showing how sloppy their “research” was. Before I got to that part, I was thinking how I would have answered the questionnaire.
“Do you use butter substitutes?”
Yes, I usually substitute ghee, lard, bacon drippings or coconut oil for cooking, or use a blend of two or more of those, but sometimes I prefer butter for a browned butter sauce effect. For spreading on bread, well, I don’t eat bread so that’s not an issue. For touching up my vegetables, potatoes, bulletproof coffee or just eating straight, I stick with real butter. I make sure it’s grass-fed, typically Kerrygold brand.
What gets me is that the doctors even tell us to eat margarine instead of butter because it’s better for us. My fat rear. I tried I Can’t Beilieve It’s not Butter one time and nearly gagged. It doesn’t taste in the least bit like butter. Thanks for all you do to educate people on healthy foods
Delete and ignore. No need to waste time with these companies that are poisoning people.
So glad for your response. Responding rudely sure would have turned her off to real food!
That is so funny! They must have not read anything on your site to think you would approve of margarine! Lol.
Good article! Crazy how in depth their questioning is. They want to know quite a lot!
Have to give you credit for your kindness and good wishes. Going off on her would probably have done nothing to convince her to change.
A relative of mine said that her doctor said that her use of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” was the reason that she had a healthy heart. Umm… I think not.
You should have answered each question point by point. You could have answered like this…
* What would motivate you to use it more often?
“A gun to my head or an intense water boarding session”
😀
Use real organic butter (I prefer unsalted) in moderation and include some healthy oils as well. Yes, you can overdo butter just as you can overdo anything. Moderation is the key.
The “too much” question stems from a misunderstanding about the healthiness of fats in the diet. The first thing she needs to do is educate him on the importance of dietary fat and the nature of a “healthy” fat. Once that’s done, hopefully he’ll be slathering on the butter right along with her.
I’m sure there are lots of R.D’s out there willing to take up their offer to push their toxic products. I’m not an R.D. basher some do eventually learn the truth. Sarah has a great video on how easy it is to make your own butter. It’s so cool! I watched a documentary two weeks ago called “Got the Facts on Milk” talking about processed milk and at the end of the documentary no one from the dairy council would talk to these college aged kids but they sent their registered dietician spokesperson to speak for them. She was asked if she thought the hormones in milk were contributing to young girls starting puberty at earlier and earlier ages and her answer floored me. She said no it’s because young girls are living with men who are not their biological fathers and their pheromones are kicking into high gear. Seriously, this was the best they could put forward as a response.
I wrote an earlier comment before the reference to R.D.s I am in support of real food and have been since I read Adelle Davis when I was in high school. I was pre-med for a very short time in college and then changed my major to Nutrition, Food Science & Dietetics because I believed in natural diet as a way to achieve good health.
While I do not belong to the American Dietetics Association, I AM a Registered Dietician with a Masters degree. Let’s all be on the same team here, OK?
Let him cook is a great idea! My hubby complained one time too many about this kind of thing and I informed him that I wasn’t his short order cook….and next time I would let him do all of himself. Haven’t had any complaints since…now he compliments! Lol
Well said!
I never make pie crusts, but have heard that crisco/lard does better…..but I love butter on everything that can possibly be complimented by a nice little …or biggish…pat!
I think the old saying is true; everything in moderation. It applies to good and supposedly bad too 😉
Healthy? Not an entire pound! Delicious? YES! 🙂
Butter is my one weakness! 🙂
Has he *tasted* butter? 😀 I suppose it might be possible to use too much, but I’d bet she’s not doing that. Her hubby is probably caught, as most of us have been at one time, in the old lessons of healthy vs unhealthy. Might be a good chance for her to show him some info to support why she’s doing the things she’s doing. (And Kelly the Kitchen Kop, you were far kinder to the ICBINB lady than most would have been!)
Good for you…I gotta admit, I would have let her have it with both barrels…but then, I’m not that nice! 😀
*eat healthy, typo sorry…
My daughter read the tubs in your picture and said, “it actually says it’s not butter?!?!?! Why would someone buy that!?!?”
Ha ha, you let her off easy. Honestly, I think the people who work for these companies (and charities too) are so indoctrinated and have very little capacity for a bit of critical thought.
I got into it with someone from the Heart Foundation over the phone back in February. They were asking me to donate to fund a heart screen for young people. I said, “Wouldn’t that money be better spent on programs to encourage kids to eat health rather than just continuing to shovel vegetable oils and sugar into them and then testing them for heart disease?”
The Heart Foundation here in Australia recommends canola oil, skim milk, avoiding all sat fats, and they say that sugar doesn’t play a role in heart disease. Now, I thought obesity predisposing someone to type 2 diabetes then heart disease might be a mechanism for that. A radio presenter asked someone from the Heart Foundation this very question and the representative said that there was no evidence for that.
Some of the products here with the Heart Association tick are the most nutritionally-devoid, and sugar laden foods around.
It’s mind boggling, really.
🙂
Kelly the Kitchen Kop – I liked your response. It was straight and to the point but not mean. Im glad you didn’t waste any of your time writing out a long explanation to them because its clear wheret hey stand. If they really wanted to know, they know youd be happy to assist in some real food knowledge but see then theyd have to be ACCOUNTABLE for their actions. So it was a great response u had there and if they had a real desire to learn the correct information, they know where to go to get it:-)
Agreed. I use 2/3 lard, 1/3 butter.
I do that, and people fall all over themselves complimenting them. To each his own.
Lard makes a better one. 😉
Then maybe he should cook lol. Just a thought.
I make the bast pie crust ever. With Butter. Anything else tastes like poo to me. Kelly, you were way nice to her btw.
Crisco makes a better pie crust….
Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing baby… Butter all the way!! Ladies at my church were talking about making pie crusts using butter flavored Crisco…yuck…I said why not use real butter??
Yes there is such a thing. My father in law puts a whole pound in a medium size pot of mashed potatoes. Its pretty gross.
That sounds controlling to me. Maybe he doesn’t think butter is a healthy food choice?
If you’re rolling a stick of butter in crumbs, deep frying it, and then coating it with chocolate… okay, I’d look at you odd too as I’d be waiting for the heart attack…
But adding a nob of butter to a pound of spinach for the family… pfft. My hubby did that I’d hide the butter from him and see what he thought after eating his stuff dry.
I say everything in moderation, but no way you’d get me to use a substitute!
Thats NOT butter… they lie …..you can put a pad of REAL butter outside and this stuff and watch the ants!!!!!!!!! THEY WONT EAT the fake stuff
This is the very first product whose manufacturer I called in 2003 to inquire if GMOs were contained in I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter. This was a staple in my refrigerator for years. We virtually never used real butter back then. I was shocked to have their customer service team tell me that their products likely contained GMOs. They didn’t have the info at the ready. I had to wait for a callback. I remember the customer service rep being just as surprised as I was about GMOs in their products. This is the first product I stopped buying to avoid GMOs.
I think you handled it very well Kelly!
By the way… I used to eat that stuff. I also used to use Molly McButter — some stuff we sprinkled over hot vegetables. Back then, ain’t nobody ate more fat-FREE than me! It makes me cringe to think about it!
Next time, Kelley, just ignore their requests for information. It is just a covert intimidation ploy and and attempt to disburse you and waste your time that could be better spent educating your public. The letter was quite condescending reducing your impact to “an accomplished home cook”.
Hate to say it Kelly, but they had no interest in converting you or your readers. They just want people to see their product and build brand familiarity. It is free advertising for them. I know it is fun to post this kind of stuff, but it is exactly what they want you to do. Marketing is an amazing machine these days. They will craft surveys (and other stuff) with the purpose of teaching us about their product. They get us to listen to their pitch under the guise of soliciting our views, because we are prideful individuals and want our opinions to be known and valued. I am thoroughly disgusted with direct contact from businesses, whether it be a “survey” or email or free give-away. Tootles my dear friend.
I think you were so gracious!!! Great reply!!! You catch more flies with honey… 😀
It’s one of those products that I see in the grocery store and Can’t Believe anyone is still buying and eating.
Now I want some butter. I have Kerrygold in the kitchen….
This is just so funny Kelly! 😉 Makes me chuckle. I agree about being gracious. I can definitely relate. It’s funny the pitches I get, and I’m left thinking…..I thought my blog stated the obvious in the title “Real Food.” ahh….such is life.
Denise
Another blogger I follow actually did do a sponsored post from them. She of course called it “healthy” something in the title. I was going to make a comment on her site, but I didn’t know what to say to not sound – as everyone else put it- snarky. So I didn’t even respond even though I want to scream that butter is so much healthier.
Your grace speaks well of you.
Well done, Kelly! You know the “old” adage–you can catch more flies with honey than with aspartame!
I truly feel sorry for people who are working for such corporations. They are trying to earn a living and end up selling their soul. I feel like that sometimes at my corporate job, but I make peace with it in other ways. Nothing I do is akin to getting people to eat margarine or pollute the earth.
Hi Kelly,
I think you handled that wonderfully! Kelly M is right, “gracious beats snarky any day. 🙂 I am always mystified at how the food industry has gotten away with this whole “healthy fat” hoax. I was fortunate to have a professor in college in the 1980’s who taught my nutrition class, (for health care professionals), and taught us about the pitfalls of hydrogenated oils. This class was heavy on chemistry so we learned about the hydrogen bonds between fatty acids and how the body recognizes and breaks down fat chains but can not recognize the patterns of hydrogen bonds in artificially hydrogenated oils. I have been a butter believer since way back in the 1980’s because of her teaching!
Hi Kelly, just had to weigh in and agree with DS and Jo-Lynne. Gracious beats snarky any day of the week. I had the same thought that the Unilever employee might actually learn something from you since you were so nice. Thanks for all you do!
hmmm…If they actually read anything about you they’d know you RUN from smutter..and Only eat BUTTER! I think it was an auto populated note. How crazy. Its like my sister in law who works out religiously and eat “diet” fake crud and is still hanging on to baby weight plus 20 6 yrs post baby yet wont listen to me as we gobble down the lard and butter….and well all the good old farm fresh yummies with a 1 yr old and 3 yr old …all the baby weight gone…her own brother lost 40 lbs eating this way. oh well.off to bacon and eggs!
Yeah, I get irrelevant pitches all the time. On the one hand, she should have done her homework FIRST, and then she’d never have reached out. On the other hand, she’s just some kid working in PR, doing her job, so yeah, I think gracious is best. Plus, if you were snarky, she would have just written you off, but the way you replied, she just might do some research and learn about healthier living. I think your response was perfect.
I completely agree. You might save a life!
agree! And at least she followed up with actual research on your blog. She may not believe in her product at all, just her job to pitch it and find an angle for placement. Your response was perfect.
I agree as well! Although if she was hired to do a “purely research project” then she really should done her research a *leetle* bit better!
I think your response was just right. No need to be cruel/mean/or anything else that’s not positive. You handled it well!
They asked all those stupid questions about what butter substitutes you use and recommend and they “value your opinion”????? You were very gracious. I hope someone at their end DOES read your opinions and listens. Unilever will still be what they are, but perhaps at least one of their employees will enjoy better health for having read your blog.