The story behind Sriracha
With a distinctive bottle taste, Sriracha has gone from an unpronounceable challenge to a staple sauce for many Americans. In the U.S. alone, $60 million worth of the sauce was sold last year alone.
But it wasn’t always such a prevalent item on store shelves. David Tran, the man responsible for popularizing the hot sauce, had a long journey beforehand:
When North Vietnam’s communists took power in South Vietnam, Tran, a major in the South Vietnamese army, fled with his family to the U.S. After settling in Los Angeles, Tran couldn’t find a job — or a hot sauce to his liking.
So he made his own by hand in a bucket, bottled it and drove it to customers in a van. He named his company Huy Fong Foods after the Taiwanese freighter that carried him out of Vietnam.
Read more via our profile of Tran, and his beloved hot sauce.
Photos: Gina Ferazzi, Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times
Great take by Tran on refusing to take investor money to increase production: “If our product is still welcomed by the customer, then we will keep growing.”
Cheap Toy Poodles Purchased in Argentinian Bazaar Turn Out to Be ‘Ferrets on Steroids’
A man in Argentina was either ripped off or not depending on your view of paying for a toy poodle and getting a giant ferret instead.
According to a news story that aired locally last year but only began making international rounds over the weekend, an unidentified man who visited La Salada bazaar in Buenos Aires thought he was getting a bargain on a pair of thousand-dollar toy poodles, but instead wound up with 150 dollars worth of ferret.
The man whose cautionary tale triggered the news piece says he had no idea he was in possession of a beefed-up ferret until he brought the animal to the vet for shots.
The Daily Mail offers this helpful tip for anyone who thinks they may have fallen victim to a similar scam: “They weigh around three pounds and have a lifespan of 7 to 10 years…Toy poodle have long lifespans and have been known to live as long as 20-years.”
So if your pet poodle is still alive after 10 years, congrats: It’s not a ferret.
Who knew Angelina travels all the way to Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, to get her hair done?
(via jacquesofalltrades)
We saw these Chuck Taylors painted on buildings all around the city. Graffiti, guerrilla advertising, or fairly unobtrusive billboards? Do you know?
Converse Street Art (by jacquesofalltrades)
Apparently, WMATA has not updated its trip planning tools (or at least their marketing) since using a pay phone was a common practice.
I’m not sure if this is better or worse than the Washington Post, which only recently (in the last year or two) updated the newspaper cover adorning its newspaper boxes from the mid-Clinton administration.
Budweiser sued for watering down beer
(Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP)
Beer lovers across the country have filed $5 million class-action lawsuits accusing Anheuser-Busch of watering down its Budweiser, Michelob and other brands.
This lawsuit could have been filed anytime in the last 50 years.
(Seriously, though, Bloomberg Businessweek had a killer cover story on this very topic not so long ago.)
“Between the hot dog, prawn cocktail and hot chili squid-flavored chips, it’s becoming harder and harder to imagine exotic potato chip flavors that DON’T already exist somewhere in the world. Thankfully, the scientists over at Lay’s have teamed up with their sister scientists over at Pepsi to create the newest weird potato chip flavor: “cola chicken.” (via DCist: Washington DC News, Food, Arts & Events - Blog View)
I have to admit, I am a big fan of the hot chili squid (and the sweet-hot basil) flavors. Not sure about Cola Chicken, though.
Volkswagen Beetle Mobile Shark Cage
Car brand Volkswagen has decided to partner with Discovery Channel to mark the 25th anniversary of Shark Week, broadcast on the channel from 12 to 16 August. This collaboration led to see the creation of a Beetle designed to roll Aquatic with sharks.
(via emscreams)
![ipen:
(via thedailywhat)
Early Dr. Suess of the Day: Before Green Eggs and Ham, Theodore Seuss Geisel was an illustrator for magazines and corporate advertisers. Who knew?
The rest of his early work can be found here.
[flavorwire]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8gl8qCJZ71qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
ipen:
(via thedailywhat)
Early Dr. Suess of the Day: Before Green Eggs and Ham, Theodore Seuss Geisel was an illustrator for magazines and corporate advertisers. Who knew?
The rest of his early work can be found here.
(Source: thedailywhat)
I love the idea of brands being snarky with each other over the Internet.
(via theweekmagazine)
![thedailywhat:
Olympics Sponsorship of the Day: This is “just a taster of the mountain of weirdness we’re dealing with pre-Olympics. 16 days to go…” reports The Times Opinion.
[thanks, james!]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m706rnWQAd1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Olympics Sponsorship of the Day: This is “just a taster of the mountain of weirdness we’re dealing with pre-Olympics. 16 days to go…” reports The Times Opinion.
[thanks, james!]
(Source: thedailywhat)
