New Packaging for Upscale Beer
I had a dream last night: a local microbrewery prepared a Maibock, and labeled the bottles "Not to be Opened until 1 May 2006."
They sold the beer months in advance, however, so that people could have the beer sitting around, waiting for it to mature, like wine, and build that anticipation.
Furthermore, the 750ml glass beer bottles were enclosed in a larger glass cylinder, which was full of water. The stated reason was to provide better "climate control" for the beer, by dampening temperature changes.
While in the waking world I can't imagine that the small volume of additional water would have a substantial effect, it would be a neat marketing gimmick.
Better Stove Controls
My stove was set to "medium" last night, but medium on my large burners is nothing like medium on my small burners. If I had a fancy stove, they would be different again.
Wouldn't it be nice if the numbers shifted, so that the big burner started at 2 or 3 and went up to 11 or 12?
"This burner goes to 11" jokes aside, ratings based on a constant scale across different stoves could make recipes more universal.
Pirate Toaster
I admit that I've always wanted the Hello Kitty Toaster that burns an image of everyone's favorite promotional vehicle. Unfortunately, I don't eat toast much, and I already have a toaster oven, which is useful for cooking fish sticks, too.
Even so, I'd buy a toaster that burned a jolly roger onto every slice of bread.
Theme Cafeterias
I contract at a large company, with many cafeterias spread across its campus. Although I sometimes eat at the closest cafeteria, I often venture further afield in search of novelty. There is, however, precious little novelty to be found.
One could quite reasonably increase the novelty available by making "theme cafeterias." It would be nice if there was an all-vegetarian cafeteria, for people who feel that other cafeterias don't have enough veggie options, or who object to their grill items being prepared on a grill that's also had meat stuff prepared on it. A Chinese or Mexican themed cafeteria might see additional business, and be worth an extra walk.
Of course, you could go overboard on themes that have nothing to do with the food itself: the nudist cafeteria, the 'pirate galleon' cafeteria, the 'dinosaurs!' cafeteria, and so on. Or you could have cafeterias themed on newly-updated products: In honor of its release, we could have the Windows Vista cafeteria for a week...
Self-Popping Popcorn
We've got self-heating lattes; I want self-popping popcorn, in a similar canister.
Wasteful? Lazy? You betchya! But it'd also be mighty convenient. Popcorn is so much better when it's popped fresh...
Restaurants with Cell-Phone-Style Contracts
Prix-fixe daily menus, so many visits a week, tips included in the price, paid in advance. Bigger discounts for more visits in a month, or if you're willing to sign up for the yearly rate. I like my Victrola coffee card, but think that the concept could be generalized to great advantage.
Fast Food Ringtone Contest
A decade ago or more, I seem to remember that Burger King had an ad campaign that featured a normal businessman-looking fellow. Patrons at Burger Kings all across the country were to be on the lookout for the guy, and whoever saw him first in a given franchise won some kind of prize. There was a big hullabaloo about it, and it seemed to be very successful.
This suggested to me a new ad campaign. First, they'd need a really catchy jingle. A new song, instantly recognizable, that they could play all over the place until everyone knew it meant 'Burger King,' or whatever chain took this idea and ran with it.
Then they could put ringtones on their Web site. For all kinds of cell phones. And they could give them away for free.
And then they could have a 'secret shopper' fellow, an anonymous man (face blanked out in the commercials, as though he was in the Witness Protection Program) who could go to major metropolitan areas or big suburban areas full of teenagers (the people most likely to download ringtones, I suspect), and who would give a cash prize to the first person in that area whose cell phone he heard with that ringtone.
Any time a phone using the tone went off, everyone in the area would think 'Burger King' (or whoever), and would look around to see if the secret shopper was watching.
The contest is just a gimmick; it's the free ringtone advertising the product far and wide that's the real win.
Electronic Recipe Assistant
Now that tablet computers are becoming affordable, there's a whole lot of use for them in the kitchen. Including the Electronic Recipe Assistant. (Queue announcer voice: "A new ERA in home cooking has arrived...")
Really it's simple stuff. Aggregating the groceries for the week's menus, and letting people "cross off" stuff they already have shelved, to produce nice grocery lists (print to any networked printer in the house). Touch the screen to see the next step --- ERA will need a plastic screen guard, to keep the grease off, something you can toss in the dishwasher. Heck, if it's got a loud enough speaker, it can read the next step, and respond to requests: "ERA: Next Step!"
I don't know if I'm just a geek, but when I'm alone in the kitchen cooking, I could use an ERA...
Tupperware with Secret Compartments
Sliding panels are always cool. Hidden anything is neat. But Tupperware storage containers for the fridge that include secret compartments would be super-cool. Among other uses, you could hide leftovers of the good stuff from roommates and other potential scavengers. Plus they'd just be fun to play with.
Drunk Dialing theme bar
I'd love to see a bar with a drunk dialing theme: each booth should have a VOIP-powered telephone installed on the wall, and calls could be free. The bar's web site could provide streaming audio of calls in progress, interspersed with advertisements for drink specials.
McEscher’s
A happy meal with moebius strip fries (it should be easy to cut potatoes into rings, and to shape the rings to have a 'twist' look to them) and klein bottle burgers. Hey, it makes me laugh, and it's a Friday.