Post # 69 - Better Made Checks and Balances 11-10-2009

A friend of mine complained that she purchased some Bettermade Triple Mix Popcorn.  For those of you who don't know, this is the Cheese/Butter/Caramel Blend (also known as Chicago Style).  Pull the cardboard divider out of one of those big popcorn tins and shake it up.  Anyway, the key to Triple Mix is the blend of salty and sweet.  Without ample caramel corn, you have a dud on your hands.

Thanks for the tip Kim!
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Dear Better Made,

I absolutely love all of your snacks. Pretzels, chips--Sweet Barbecue, Sour Cream ‘n’ Onion, Cathy’s Creamy Barbecue—all are top shelf. Your various popcorns make me so happy—Ranch, Cinnamon, Caramel, and Cheese! When out-of-towners ask me for a “taste of Michigan,” I point them right at the Better Made isle.

With every great job comes great challenges. As a 12th Grade United States Government teacher at the local high school, I am required to teach “often-dry” material. The difficult part is trying to “reach” Jake, the high school quarterback, whose mind has drifted to tonight’s kegger at Tommy’s since Tommy’s dad is in Barbados with his secretary. I’m also trying to reach Lisa, who is panicked because she locked her keys in the car, “oh and um like there’s a case of beer in the trunk that we bought at lunchtime”. Sometimes, I use everyday examples—simple things.

That particular day, the topic was checks and balances. The Better Made Triple Mix popcorn in my lunch became a makeshift example. In my Better Made example, Butter Corn vetoed a law passed by Cheese Corn. Cheese Corn overrode Butter Corn's veto with a vote of two-thirds of both poppers. Another example, Caramel Corn checked Cheese Corn by declaring a kernel unconstitutional. This power was is balanced by the fact that members of the Supreme Caramel Corn are appointed by the Butter Popcorn, and those appointments have to be approved by Cheese Corn.

My example fell flat on its face when I could hardly find any caramel corn in my Better Made Triple Mix Blend. With inadequate Caramel Corn representation, the bag was unable to uphold the constitution, and we had anarchy. Anarchy, both in the popcorn bag, and also in my classroom where Molly McPimpleton questioned my qualifications to teach her. Paper wads were flying east to west, erasers north to south. A Pelosi Paper airplane, a Mitt Romney paper football.

Your popcorn undermined me! What would cause such an imbalance of power, and for that matter, flavor? You and I know that everybody likes the caramel corn best. It was just a little disappointing. The package read "A26DEC2009C".

Sincerely,

Jerry
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Follow-up on 11/18/2009


Dear Better Made,

Just following up. It has been over a week and I have not heard from anyone.

My triple blend was really light on the caramel. I was just wondering what was up.

Thanks,

Jerry
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No response, other than automatic notification that they received my email.

From http://thehermanletters.blogspot.com