I stumbled upon an unusual food choice while doing my weekly grocery shopping. As I turned down the frozen foods aisle, they just jumped out at me. They were “ugly corndogs” and, appropriately named, they were simply labeled “Uglies.” Although I don’t eat corndogs, these interested me.
Being an Ole Miss fan, I can think of several LSU jokes involving ugly corndogs, but I will refrain from mentioning them.
Needless to say, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I looked at the cartoon corndogs drawn on the box. One had a long Pinocchio-like nose and another one had a disproportioned head. Both had big googly eyes, and one had a speech bubble that read, “It ain’t easy bein’ ugly.” The marketing slogan read, “Great taste. Great value. Just ugly.” I almost felt sorry for the things.
I wondered who would buy ugly corndogs. Sure, they were cheaper, but if if someone was going to serve corndogs at a party, they probably wouldn’t serve overly browned ones with weird lumps and torn batter.
Here in America, we don’t buy “ugly” things in the store. Who walks into a clothing store and says, “Hmm. That shirt hanging up over there sure is ugly, but it’s cheaper than the one on display in the window, so I think I’ll get it”? I think most people will pay a little more for something that looks better.
But food is different. If nobody is going to see it but you, then why not buy the ugly, cheaper one and save some money? If the quality is the same, you really get a good deal.
I also wondered if there were many kids out there who would eat ugly corndogs. Picky eaters, in particular, probably wouldn’t. I was that picky kid once. I went through a phase as a young child where I wouldn’t take or eat food that I didn’t think looked nice. (I think a lot of people still have that mentality on a subconscious level.) If I had a choice between a whole cookie or a broken one, I always chose the whole one and left the broken one for someone else. (A lot of times I would ask somebody to trade with me, but if my brother had the better looking item, I would switch them out when he wasn’t looking.) I’m proud to say that I’ve matured since then, and I’ve learned that the broken cookie tastes just as good as the whole one — sometimes even better.
I’m sure those corndogs are no exception. They may be ugly as all get-out, but I’m sure they taste just the same as the perfect-looking corndogs sitting on the next shelf. In fact, if I ate corndogs, I’d go back to the store and buy them just to see. But I don’t, so I guess those Uglies will stay on the shelf until somebody else comes along and feels sorry for them.
nContact Beth Thomas at 581-7233 or bthomas@gwcommonwealth.com
