Monopoly (game) and Kraft Dinner (Kraft Macaroni and Cheese)

We’ve been playing a lot of Monopoly in my house lately, and my eight year old has been enjoying it. Tonight we had a cooking lesson, (Kraft Dinner) and my son noted “Wow the powder is the same colour as the 500 dollar bills in Monopoly!”

I started thinking if saying “the powder was the same shade as the Monopoly money” or if “the Monopoly money was cheese powder-coloured” was more correct. I mean, millions have played Monopoly, millions have eaten KD. Both have been around since the 1930s. I know in university, I probably played many games of Monopoly while eating KD.

I know the money colour isn’t necessarily standardized (although every game I have ever played had that unnatural orange 500 dollar bill) but I am trying to think, probably the set that has both played Monopoly and eaten KD is the largest set, but what do dopers think… More people have eaten KD or more have played Monopoly?

I know the world is a large place and this is really a mainly North America-centric question, but would Dopers weigh in on this?

And this could go in MPSIMS but since it is about food, I chose here. I guess it could also go in the games room. I don’t know… moderator move it if you wish.

Hmmmm…ok.

I think more people have eaten Kraft Mac and Cheese than played Monopoly. I have to admit, I’ve never noticed the similarity in the color of the powder and the $500 bill.

$500 Bill

Powder

For reference.

Why is it called “Kraft Dinner” in Canada? I’ve never been able to figure that out.

See Wikipedia article.

Kraft Dinner in Canada, like the wiki article says is much more than just a noodle side dish. It often tends to be a main meal for some, and has often been used as symbols in political debate. In the 1990s Kraft Dinner was often used as symbols of poverty by student groups and people protesting cuts to social services.

But I digress. Any guesstimates on number of people who have played Monopoly and not eaten KD and vice-versa?

Well, there are all manner of strange connections:

It’s Kraft Dinner here in da UP, too.

KD cheese powder incorporates an artificial coloring process which is part of a larger gig designed to ease people’s bizarre discomfort with fluctuation in bovine dietary habits.

That’s all–nothing else.

IN other words, it’s so iconic in Canada that they didn’t bother changing the name like they did in the U.S. and elsewhere?

That… that sounds like an Onion article. But it’s all sourced, and they seem to be reputable. Canada is a very odd place.

Back in the '50s, when I was a kid, I bet lots of people played Monopoly who never had Kraft Dinner (we made real mac ‘n’ cheese). Today, Kraft would win.

I’ve always thought the name was odd too… It’s like saying that you want to have “Kellogg’s Breakfast” or “Hormel Lunch.” It tells you absolutely nothing about the content of food.