Proof You Can’t “i” Just Anything: iSnack 2.0 Vegemite

Processed food mongers Kraft thought they might cop some of Apple’s cool by sticking an “i” in front of a new product.

Meet iSnack 2.0. It’s Vegemite (for the uninitiated, concentrated yeast extract) plus cream cheese. In one handy jar.

(Forgive me Australians: it sounds like it should’ve been directly marketed as an emetic.)

The new Apple-esque name was chosen from 48,000 entries in a contest. The winning entry was coined by 27-year-old Dean Robbins,  who, we’re guessing because he’s also a web designer, is probably also a Mac user.

The "i"s have it: the web designer who came up with the name. @SMH

”It was all a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. The ‘i’ phenomenon and web 2.0 have been recent revolutions and I thought the new Vegemite name could do the same.”

The outrage has been such that Kraft have had to defend what was thought to be a gag (ahem) name for the product:

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“The name Vegemite iSnack2.0 was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original, ” Simon Talbot from Kraft Foods told the Syndey Morning Herald. “We believe these three components completely encapsulate the new brand.”

This won’t be the first or the last food to be branded iSnack, though this one looks slated to be pulled (if the tweets marked #vegefail are anything to go by) so it might be worth buying for your iCollection.

Should Apple be offended?

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