Vegemite unscrews lid on iSnack2.0

Kraft Foods has announced the result of a three-month competition to name its new cream-cheese-adulterated Vegemite, and has decided it's a really bright idea to brand the spread "Vegemite iSnack2.0". The man responsible for the outrage is West Australian web designer Dean Robbins. The 27-year-old saw off over 48,000 rival …

[Anonymous Coward]

Yawn...

..I guess this is one of those "lets cause loads of outrage, get free publicity and then revert back , due to consumer demand" promos that are pretty common these days...

[Dave Harris]

Er, what?

Seriously, WTF?

[George 24]

How Bizarre

How unoriginal. Must we put i in front of everything? ipathetic...

[SlabMan]

iDontLikeIt

inFact - iSpewed.

[LaeMi Qian]

Like that won't get old fast!

In two years time that will be as 'hip' and 'with it' as Snack-XP sounds today.

Obviously not a product intended to be around for the long-haul - unlike the original.

[Anonymous Coward]

The only thing more facetious than this stupid name ...

... would be if Apple tries to sue them for breach of their i-anything trademarks.

In a morbid kind of way, I actually hope that does happen...

[James Pickett]

Decency

Oh bugger. I really like Vegemite, but I have to boycott it now to retain any shred of self-respect.

[Anonymous Coward]

Are they...

mental?

And that Simon fella needs to be taken round the back and given a severe lashing until he promises never to spout such utter nonsense ever again!

[Jerome 0]

Lawyers in 3, 2, 1...

I thought Apple had patented, trademarked and copyrighted the letter "i"?

[Fihart]

Vegemite Hate It or Hate It

Face it Kraft (and oz b*stards) Vegemite is just Marmite -- but spoiled.

[Jeremy Chappell]

Yeah, but...

I bet it's still horrible though.

[J.Wild]

iwon't buy it!

After an initial shock (is that a pun?) I think that isnack is quite a fun name.

However just as I'm adverse to the "K" words (Kwiksave etc.) I will never buy any product that is prefixed by the letter i. </grump>

[Mike Echo]

It tastes

as lame as its name sounds - I bought some just to try and it was awful. The guy certainly will go down in history, just like the captain of the Titanic.

[It'sa Mea... Mario]

Bunch of woosies!

'consumer calls for "a product that did not require mixing with butter..."'

Vegimite is just a weaker version of Marmite and I don't feel the need to mix 'my mate' with Butter!

[Titus Aduxass]

iDespair

iReallyDo

[Ray0x6]

move along

... these are not the [marketing] droids you are looking for...

[Anonymous Coward]

Bleugh

Didn't like the sound of the ingredients when I heard the competition announced. I prefer Vegemite to Marmite as it is less gloopy. But mixing it with cream cheese? What on earth were they thinking?

Regards

Neil

[Balefire]

They can't make it taste any worse

I like marmite. In fact, I love marmite on toast. An Oz friend of mine gave me some vegemite instead one day and it nearly made me spew. Fecking awful stuff.

[Mrs Bunny]

BUGGER ME !!! (well not litteraly please!)

If they are going to name it something as STUPID as that..well, I shall be boycotting the stuff!!

What was wrong withsomething good and wholesome like "Cheesymite" and all the other human names that we in NZ came up with?

Is it because some silly sod wants to try and be clever or what...?

No parent is going to buy something like that for their child - and I thought Kraft was supposed to be thinking of selling their product to the families of the world - to be nutritious and healthy!!

[Anonymous Coward]

ARGHHH!!!!

Just one more inappropriate use of "i" in the name of something and I swear I'll....

[Anonymous Coward]

Meh

So some random wants to rebrand as 2.0 to keep up wiv da yoof or summink? Sticking 2.0 on a "product" is almost a guarantee of failure nowadays, web2.0 was just marketeers trying to stick a label on something that was gradually evolving anyway. It won't help.

And lets face it, whether you love, hate, or like me, are indifferent about Marmite, Vegemite is just the poor inferior wannabe cousin.

[Anonymous Cowherd 1]

Vomite

No further comment required.

[barfridge]

Everyone is missing the point

Vegemite has a very strong flavour, so you only need to use a tiny bit on your bread. This is obviously no good for sales, as a jar lasts weeks if not months.

So some smart marketing droid came up with the idea of diluting it, so you need to use more and empty that jar more quickly.

Claiming that people want something different when they have been happily eating it for 80 years is dangerous spin. It's right up there with breweries claiming people want beer in a smaller bottle for the same price, as it fits their needs (somehow???).

[S Larti]

iHate...

crappy marketing names!

Particularly those dreamt up by lazy idiots.

Much as I love my iMac let's give "i" a f***ing rest!

C'mon people, think of something new! As for 2.0?!!!

[CT]

Sounds like an article from The Onion

Sounds like an article from The Onion

[It'sa Mea... Mario]

@Vomite

New keyboard please Mr Cowherd 1!

[Daniel 1]

Whatever next?

A foodstuff that does not require digestion, since it already resembles the end product?

[Marvin the Martian]

''It's been difficult to contain my excitement"

I read that as "excrement" at first, and that made more sense.

[John Dougald McCallum]

Kraft!!!!!!

and to think they want to buy Cadburys dog knows what they would do to their choclate?

[Adrian 4]

Strong ?

"Vegemite has a very strong flavour"

Oh, come on. Vegemite tastes like extract of malt that once heard of someone who ate marmite.

Fosters, as we know, is the residue discarded by someone who drank real beer. Vegemite is made the same way. Vegemite with cream cheese ? I don't want to think about it.

[LaeMi Qian]

I quite like the V

You don't slab it on like peanut butter, though!

...

Marketing people should be banned from entering product-naming competitions - we can say it is to give us regular folks a fair go, but we all know it is really to stop mindless ego-wanking like this.

We probably need to keep the marketers off the judging pannels too - egotistical circle-jerks (on the consuming public) are never pleasant either.

...

barfridge (above) makes a truth-ringing point regarding usage rates - as much as I like the stuff, a small jar will last me all year.

...

In the end, "Yeast extract" is just the slime off the bottom of brewing vats.

[Drew 11]

Two points

1. Vegemite comes into it's own when spread on hot buttered toast. Whoever decided cheese should be put in the mix needs to be put down inhumanely.

2. Why do idiots come up with brands that cannot be represented in a functioning domain name? iSnack2.0.com ??? *

[Fozzy 1]

Bastards!

I've boycotted the product since they decided to jack up the price and reduce the jar size. claiming once again that it was due to consumer demand. What bullshit what moron would want to pay more for less

[Goat Jam]

@ barfridge

I'm sure glad I read all the comments before I added my own 2c because I was going to say the exact same thing. This is just a ploy to make you buy more because as you say, currently, a jar can last for months.. Unfortunately (for Kraft) it will fail because the stuff is revolting and no self respecting Aussie would be caught dead eating that shite any more than they would voluntarily choose to drink Fosters Lager.

[Anonymous Coward]

iChew2.0 ... do U

Maybe they'll change the name in the first maintenance release? Even Vegemite is not the original name for the product. It was called Parwill by its inventor, ie before Kraft bought it.

Marmite ......... Parwill! Very droll.

Vegemite has also been known to generations of school students as Vaginamite. Try getting your tongue around that! If not, Martmite.

[Adrian Esdaile]

Not enough FAIL to describe this

Yes, the moron who thought that name up will go down in history as creator of a FAIL of astronomical proportions.

Yes, his FAIL is so large it has already been spotted by the Cassini probe.

Later, in the year 2138:

Yes, kiddies, I remember reading about the Great 2009 iFAIL on this funny old thing we had called teh Intartubes.

Fail. Just... fail.

[Anonymous Coward]

yuck-che-rist-2.0

can't believe it's not jesus.

[Andrew 19]

Ehhh

To be fair, this is a new and different product, not a renaming of Vegemite as many news reports have wrongly implied.

Could this really be some kind of "no such thing as bad publicity" viral stunt? Seems out of step with Vegemite's down home image but you never know with these hipster marketing types.

I'm guessing they expect their version of New Coke to last about as long.

They should have taken the ironic doomed faddishness to its logical extreme and called it Vegemite 2000.

[Charles Manning]

@Fihart, @barfridge

Vegemite vs Marmite taste varied according to location, something that I learned when I shifted.

In South Africa, Marmite is very strong/salty and Vegemite is relatively tame. A half teaspoon is enough for a slice of toast.

In NZ/Oz, Vegemite is about the same (and might be the same) as the Vegemite available in South Africa. You want about a tablespoon of the stuff on a slice of toast.

The NZ/Oz Marmite is pointless and is just coloured margarine. Just chuck it in the bin. Sounds like something the Poms might like.

[Winkypop]

Marmite is for kids

iSnack 2.0 is for women.

Vegemite is for men!

End of...

[Drew 11]

v2k

>They should have taken the ironic doomed faddishness to its logical extreme and called it Vegemite 2000.

You mean V2K, I hope.

[Dave Harris]

Even more FAIL

According to Brand Republic: "It has emerged that Breville, which makes toasters and sandwich makers, lodged an application to trademark the name iSnack in 2000. The application was accepted in 2001 for "cooking apparatus including snack makers and sandwich toasters; parts and accessories in this class for cooking apparatus"."

http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/941438/Vegemites-iSnack-20-brand-meets-widespread-derision/