Cranberry Sauce Fatwa 

Maybe you've heard... but the Pajamahadeen have declared victory against Dan Rather who is stepping down from his post as anchor of the CBS Evening News next year. I personally doubt whether this is truly a victory. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I have a feeling that Dan wants to just concentrate more time on 60 Minutes so he can make the next set of forgeries more authentic. That was his problem before... lack of time and focus. But maybe I'm wrong, and maybe there is power in the blogosphere. If there is, I definitely want to harness it for the powers of good. Therefore, I am officially declaring a Blogger Fatwa against Ocean Spray!

You're kidding, right? Absolutely not. Here is my story. Last year when my Mom had Thanksgiving, she pulled out a can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce, opened it, and attempted to put it in a dish in such a way that the ridges remained intact. You see, in our family we love canned cranberry sauce, much to my mother's chagrin. Normally what you do in order to maintain said ridges, is open a little hole in the other end to let air through, and the sauce slides out easily. Last year though, Ocean Spray started using extruded cans for their cranberry sauce that has a rounded bottom. That means you can't use a can opener on the bottom of the can, or even a key hole style can opener. I had to carefully slide a knife around the edge (trying not to cut off the ridges) and then squeeze it out. I was irate!

The next day I went to the Ocean Spray website and sent an email to them complaining about their can. I got a response from them saying how sorry they were. They told me that they actually use focus groups to test new product packaging, and that this was a well tested can, then sent coupons for several new products. Somehow I thought I might have made a difference though. Maybe they'd take my advice to heart and re-examine their can style. After all, I can be the only one who loves canned cranberry sauce... others must be just as upset as I.

My Mom is having Thanksgiving again this year, and informed me after she went grocery shopping that Ocean Spray still has the round bottom cans this year. For some reason, she still bought it though, which I'm still trying to figure out. So everyone out there who has a love for canned cranberry sauce unite! Send an email to Ocean Spray complaining about stupid product packaging! Demand that they change back to the old style can so we can get our sauce out with ridges intact! Make Ocean Spray feel the power of the Pajamahadeen!