Atrios today:

Luxury Canned Goods

A weird thing about the US is that we don’t really have those. Yes, sure, you can go to a specialty shop and buy anything, including $50 imported marmalade or whatever, but mostly the idea that there’s a better caliber of canned goods is not a part of our food culture. In other countries, $20 cans of cockles, or similar, are a normal thing, as is opening up the tin and serving it to your impressed guests.

I wouldn’t normally have anything to say about this except that it reminds me of an odd area where Americans do indeed believe in luxury canned goods: cat food. I mean, check this out:

Hell, this looks more mouth watering than what I normally eat. And while I get that there’s a touch—just barely—of humor intended in these ads, cat food in general is advertised these days as if your cats routinely dine at Buckingham Palace.

And what’s with the veggies? Very popular these days, but aren’t cats obligate carnivores? Is this solely to appeal to humans who think veggies = healthy, or is there some actual reason that leavening cat food with a few carrots is good for them?

POSTSCRIPT: As for my personal opinion, in 60 years of cat-owning it’s clear to me that they couldn’t care less what their food looks like. I can buy any food in the market, and as soon as they hear the rustle of kibble or the whir of a can opener they gallop over as if they haven’t been fed since the Middle Ages. So don’t worry about it.

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