Grrr...

Okay, now I'm just annoyed.

If you scroll down my page here, you will find a product review for Kraft's new Grate-It-Fresh cheese. And if I do say so myself, I think I wrote a very nice and well-thought out review. And in this age of people who either cook alot or don't cook at all, I sincerely thought that this might be one of those products that get the people who don't cook thinking outside the box. That maybe instead of reaching for that yucky powdered cheese, they'd reach for this easy to use grater instead., and find out that real cheese does taste better.

And in all honesty, the e-mail I received from the "summer intern" at Kraft was very nice and forthcoming. And he truly did not ask for a "free promotion" from me on my blog. I did reply to him that I would love to try his product, and sure enough, a few days later I had the new product in hand.

I feel like I've been duped. Check out this post on Accidental Hedonist. That e-mail she received was almost verbatim to the one I recieved, minus the first name. And if you read further into the comments, you will see that she and I are not alone in this product offering. So now I feel as if I have been scammed into offering up a free product review. There has been so much debate lately amongst food bloggers about product reviews. Whether we should do them, whether we should accept freebies, and whether or not product reviews could be classified as advertising. As I am writing this, I think I am just getting angry. Partly at Mr. Really Nice Summer Intern who probably works in the marketing department. And partly at myself for falling for it and giving up the free advertising space.

So.

From this point on, product reviews will only be conducted by me if I have purchased said product. Meaning that I will go to the store and pay from my own pocket for the product. That way I have a vested interest in whether or not I truly enjoy a product. Do I really like the Kraft cheese? Yes, I think it's a great product for some people- and I think Kraft will be very successful with it. But I guess the true question is whether or not I will buy it again. And in that, I can honestly say that I am not sure. I don't have that buying decision to make yet, it's not available here until next January. So I will make that call then.

Until then, no more marketing spam for me, thank you very much. I am embarassed that my Marketing education did not sniff this one out.

Oh, and for those who have requested that I pass on your info to this guy...sorry, I am not going to contribute any further to the product promotion.