Not sure if this is a local thing, but lately there seems to be a ton of commericals for this company that cuts fruit up into weird shapes, shoves a spear through them, and then puts them all in a bucket to resemble some sort of arty bouquet.
While I might have more germ issues than the average gal, I am by no means extreme. But every time I see this commercial I think of all the people that had to touch the fruit. There’s the person that peeled it, the person that carved it into a swan or sun, the person that shoved a wooden dowel through it, the person that stuck it in a bucket, and finally the person that delivers it to your house.
Is a bucket of crazy shaped fruit the best way to say “thank you” or “congratulations”?
What is the weirdest “gift” that you have seen advertised?
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Just reminded me… this week, snork is the size of a peach ;o)
Yeah, those fruit things kinda freak me out…they remind you just how much our food goes through before it gets to us. Yech. Don’t want to think about it because I am too lazy to become all super macrobiotic or whatever.
Is it wrong that I still kind of want to eat that pineapple Hello Kitty head?
Those are actually FANTASTIC. We used to get them for people at my old firm for babyshowers and things, and they’re delicious. I know, germphobes beware, but I love them. I’d much rather have that than a cake that’ll make me sick.
I like them. I’ve seen the “making of” on Unwrapped, and it’s really pretty cool how the shapes are made. Gloves are of course used, and they’ve got special slicers that do most of the work.
And did you know that aside from the sticks and whatever container is used, it’s all edible? They stick the picks into a head of lettuce covered in kale.
Besides, who wouldn’t want a bouquet of chocolate-covered strawberries?
HAHAHA I used to work in a restaurant.. and government regulations require gloves when touching food that is not going to be cooked. I am hoping that whomever assembles the baskets does indeed wear gloves… of course, you never know I guess.
Ps.. they’re all over the TV in New England too…
How’s the weather down there?? I’m flying to FL tomorrow for a family Vaca..
Hoping its nice! although its gotta be better than here with the cold rains.
AND those things are rediculously expensive!!
I’ve seen that! I’m fine with eating fruit in weird shapes, but I can’t see it being all that tasty after being shipped to hell and back. Ick.
as a recipient of too many of these, i have to say, they’re kinda gross. they take uninspired unseasonal produce, cut it up god knows when, and deliver it some unclear period of time later. eat a few spears, and you’re left wondering if you should disassemble the whole thing to get it into the fridge, or just scarf down a whole lot of dried out apples. yick.
I’ve seen those ads – they look so unappealing to me. I’d always be worried that the fruit had gone off because it’s probably days since it was cut. Or that they spray it with something to prevent it from getting too squishy too quickly, and that I wouldn’t want to eat that either.
Having said that, I guess it IS better than yet another over-sugary cake from Publix, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Those are my sister’s favorite gifts-to-give recently. They are SO yummy. They also send little boxes of chocolate covered fruit. She sent me a big arrangement one for my last last birthday and a box of chocolate covered fruit for my last birthday. They are quite delicious.
Plus, I am of the opinion that a few germs don’t hurt anyone. I’d eat it even if I saw everyone preparing it barehanded. (But they do have to wear gloves.)
I soooo wanted to get a big one for the clinic to say thanks because it is healthy. BUT They are sooooo expensive, the smallest is like over 60 and a normal size is over 90.
Heh. They’re all over TV here, too, and I actually looked into the company b/c I was going to send one to the L&D staff after the little parasites show up. But they don’t deliver here. I do think they look yummy…but not terribly germophobic.
I thought it was cool but the more I watched it I thought about the same germ thing as you did.
Some company that came to speak at one of our staff meetings brought one of those fruit things. I found it underwhelming.
Not to mention the fact that honeydew and cantaloupe are only ripe for a certain period of time and once you cut the fruit, it deteriorates rapidly… what are they putting on it to keep it fresh? How fresh could it be?
I can’t think of any truly weird gifts honestly. My uncle did own a couple of those “cookie bouquet” businesses for about 10 years though. I’d rather have cookies than a bunch of oddly shaped fruit.
OH!! Cookies! Now THAT is something that I would endorse
hmmm well i hadn’t thought about the germ issue in the making of such a fruit bouquet, but we get these a lot at work and for some reason they are so much fun and delicious. especially the ones that cover some of the fruit in chocolate. the chocolate covered oranges are to die for!
I totally agree! To me, those bouquets are the opposite of fresh fruit. What sorts of preservatives are on that fruit to maintain texture, color, and “freshness”? Factory fruit – yuck. Give me a cookie bouquet any day!
I just can’t figure out how to store it!
I had one delivered to me and freaking LOVED it. Now this is the gift I send instead of flowers.
When you get it delivered, there are instructions to take all the fruit off to store.
Oh – and I usually get mine chocolate dipped.
Stop being such a germ freak!
Ok this is hilarious to me because Cale and I were sitting on the couch last night and that commercial came on and I literally said the exact same things you did, to him. I even got all worked up about how insanely gross it is! I mean seriously!!! And I am not one to use bleach in my house to clean unless there has been a stomach bug going around my house. But this to me takes the cake (pun intended) as far as all of the crap that would be collecting on that moist, warm, cut fruit in it’s travels to your home. YUCK!! No thanks! Hahahahaha – funny we had the exact same reaction! Love you!!!
I got one of those once. It was sent by co workers to my house right after my grandmother died. I had 1 day to eat it all before I was on a plane. A part of me loved it and a part of me found it to be another thing on my to do list.
I didn’t even think about the germ issue (I work in a field where kids sneeze, puke, and drool on me all the time – some healthy adult assembling food does little to scare me), it was more that it just didn’t last very long and was a LOT of fruit for me to eat by myself while grieving.
there definetely is a market out there of for people wanting to do something for someone they don’t know very well but really want to give them something anyway as a thank you, condolences, or congradulations…. there will always be random things cropping up to try to fill that void.
Now see I would buy that for my six year old little girl who is a Hello Kitty addict and is totally opposed to eating anything that isn’t poptarts and chocolate. Well it would probably be too expensive for me to buy, but I’d tell her grandparents to send it.
Not.A.Fan.Totally
I loathe the commercial because this woman is sending marginally impersonal gifts for HUGE deals like her parents anniversary or her son’s birthday. Come ON what kid really digs a melon fiesta at his birthday bash? Uh, none.
ok. i want that Hello Kitty Bucket and the figurine in the bouquet. *must tell family for when i finally graduate or pass the RN boards*
i have to say i never thought about the prep of those fruit thingy’s but i think you think too much… arent you supposed to LOSE braincells during pregnancy? tell snork to take another helping so you dont worry about the fruit-prep
we have one of those store here in knoxville
they look cute but the price yowsers!
I always think about microbes on things like that. A girl in my husbands office got one and she asked if I wanted a chocolate dipped mango and I said no so quick you would have thought I slapped her. All I could think was ewww… run away. However I would be willing to buy that hello kitty bucket. They can keep their microbe covered fruit.
That commercial totally freaks me out, but you know what a germophobe I am. I’m glad to hear one of my non-germaphobic friends think and say the same thing!! And I’m with Ania… LOVE the Hello Kitty bucket!!!!
I have never seen anything like that before – thank goodness that hasn’t hit my metro area (either that or my lack of TV watching means I just don’t know that it has.) I love fresh fruit – but I would avoid this – not just the germs but the preservatives – blech. Now give me a basket of freshly picked apples and I’m happy as a clam!
There’s a shop that sells these near where I get my hair done. The people who prepare the fruit wear gloves and hairnets. It looks pretty sanitary. I wouldn’t mind getting one of them myself, but then I like fruit a lot but I don’t like peeling it.
If you obsess over any kind of food it can gross you out. have you ever seen what goes on behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen? I’m not talking about a greasy spoon but a four star restaurant kitchen. Some scary things happen. My neighbor is a chef in a very exclusive restaurant. He has worked in some well-known places in Manhattan and he tells some very… unappetizing stories. Rats, insects, people dropping food on the floor and picking it up and putting it on patrons’ plates, people sampling from dinners which have been prepared but not yet carried into the dining room, and much, much worse.
And how about the chemicals in food and the whole chain of people who handle it before it gets to your table?
I choose not to think about it too much. My grandmother said we all eat a peck of dirt before we die. She didn’t mention rat feces and insect bodies but they’re likely to slip in, too.
I watch my standard poodle and she happily eats everything she can get ahold of.. Some of it is still wiggling.
I’m sorry if this is making you queasy but that’s just how it is. Life is a messy business so I wash fruit before I eat it and consider it good to go.
Oh, the chocolate covered strawberry bouquet is delicious!
yea, I am just seeing this now and like so many above, I just have to respond too! Hali received one of these from her work people as a recovery gift after surgery. It was fabulous. but yes, I’ve been noticing the commercials in the last week or so, and they seem so odd.
WOw, the chocolate covered strawberry bouquet is delicious and tasteful