- Slim Jim (snack food)
Slim Jim is a brand of dry meat snack manufactured by
ConAgra Foods, Inc. They are popular in theUnited States , due in part to their unique texture, taste and marketing. More than 500 million are produced annually in at least 20 varieties. Slim Jims were originally manufactured byGoodmark Foods, Inc. , before the company was acquired by ConAgra Foods in 1998. Lon Adams developed the Slim Jim recipe while working for Goodmark. Slim Jim is one of the most well-known examples of a food product which is listed as containingmechanically separated chicken in its ingredients, as required by the USDA.Advertising Campaigns
Until the late 1990's Advertising for the product included commercials that featured wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who served as
spokesperson . Each commercial would close with Savage bellowing "SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!" Other notable spokespeople have included The Ultimate Warrior,Bam Bam Bigelow ,Kevin Nash andVanilla Ice .Slim Jim advertisements were also heavily featured in Archie Comics.
Following the Randy Savage advertising campaign, ads featured a man in a giant Slim Jim costume, proclaiming "EAT ME!".
In 2005 Slim Jim advertising featured the edgy Fairy Snapmother - "a character resembling a tattooed punk rocker with fairy wings - and a familiar MTV-type of humor young males enjoy." [cite press release|publisher=ConAgra Foods=
November 15 ,2005 |url=http://investor.conagrafoods.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=97518&p=irol-newsArticlebra&ID=785140 |title=SNAP! Slim Jim’s Fairy Snapmother Flies Into Convenience Stores|accessdate=2008-9-8]A recent campaign depicted people hunting a fictitious "Snapalope" within convenience stores using urban camouflage. The Snapalope is a
deer -like puppet made from Slim Jims.In 2008 Slim Jim launched an new website: "SpicySide.com" encouraging consumers to get in touch with their "Spicy Side" by creating an avatar and fighting their friends in an online landscape called Spicy Town. Slim Jim also partnered with a well known Machinima artist to develop a World of Warcraft parody which proved popular on YouTube.
Slim Jim sponsored
Bobby Labonte and David Green when they won theNASCAR Busch Series championship in 1991 and 1994, respectively.The current spokesperson is
WWE superstar Edge, who is featured in their current advertising campaign. The commercials feature Edge waiting for various services, accompanied by his "Spicy Side," a mischievous imp version of Edge, who terrorizes everyone after biting a Slim Jim.External links
* [http://www.slimjim.com Official Slim Jim Website]
* [http://www.spicyside.com Official Slim Jim Website]
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