# The Lipton Instant Mashed Potatoes with Knorr Beef Gravy Mix Kit and its purchasers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 27, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154 "2002-11-27T17:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/1 "2002-11-27T17:49:42Z")
A kit? For mashed potatoes and gravy? You people need a KIT to make instant mashed potatoes and gravy? Strewth. What kind of yams-with-legs-and-a-head are you, that you need to go out and buy a “Lipton Instant Mashed Potatoes with Knorr Beef Gravy Mix” freakin’ kit in order to make instant mashed potatoes and instant gravy? I thought the Chicken of the Sea Tuna Salad Kit was dumb, but this… Geez. Are you sure you can get the package open by yourself, now? Maybe they should market some kind of package-opening kit for you folks, or maybe some kind of Star Trek self-opening package. Push the button and out pops tuna salad. Actually, they already have those. They’re called “restaurants”. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/2 "2002-11-27T17:52:04Z")
I buy the instant flavored mashed potatoes, but only 'cause I don’t usually feel like making them myself. Not that it’s hard or anything. Boil potatoes, drain, add a little milk and butter and go nuts with the masher. Gravy? Don’t eat the stuff anyway, why would I make it? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/3 "2002-11-27T17:53:57Z")
Some of us don’t own mashers. And are lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/4 "2002-11-27T17:57:36Z")
But I think Duck’s point is, why not buy a pouch of instant mashed potatoes and a pouch of instant gravy. Voila kit. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/5 "2002-11-27T17:59:40Z")
And are stupid. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/6 "2002-11-27T18:03:03Z")
Are you suggesting it would be easier to buy instant mashed potatoes and gravy as 2 seperate items, than to buy them together as one item:confused: ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/7 "2002-11-27T18:03:36Z")
If the combo box is the same price as the same instant bits in separate packaging, I don’t see what the big deal is. If it’s more than buying the separate bits, that’s just being unobservant. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/8 "2002-11-27T18:07:52Z")
Well, potatoes are easy enough to make, but gravy? If a person just wants some poatoes and gravy are they go to a restaurant and spend $6 for a meal (at best) - OR - buy and cook a $10 beef roast? I don’t get the rant. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/9 "2002-11-27T18:12:40Z")
Instant mashed potatoes are GROSS! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/10 "2002-11-27T18:15:11Z")
It’s the idea of the kit that I find irksome and incomprehensible. My kids all knew how to make instant mashed potatoes out of the box by the time they were four years old, and could open a can of gravy by the time they were five. What’s to know? This is marketed for people who lack the smarts to (a) buy a box of instant mashed potatoes, (b) buy either a package of instant gravy mix or a can or a jar of gravy, and © combine the two items together somehow into one meal. I find it deeply frightening to think about how many people like this must be out there, that Unilever BestFoods’ test marketing turned up, for them to put this–_artifact_–on the market. Or shall we blame Sloth instead of Ignorance? People who are too lazy to figure it out themselves? That’s even scarier. Bernse, where do you live, that they don’t sell instant gravy in little packages? Or “home-cooked” gravy in both jars and cans? It’s usually by the spaghetti sauce and tomato paste, at the grocery store, by all the packets of instant taco sauce, instant fajita sauce, instant spaghetti sauce, instant marinade, ad infinitum. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/11 "2002-11-27T18:19:29Z")
We got a whole bunch of these things free at the State Fair this year. They’re okay, but they’re still instant. I prefer home-made, but these will do in a pinch if I’m not making a roast. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/12 "2002-11-27T18:20:15Z")
Hmm…I can’t join in because I’d decided the world was going to end with ‘Easy Mac’…only to discover that several close friends living are on the stuff… But, I do understand the spirit of your rant 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/13 "2002-11-27T18:24:25Z")
**Ducky** , brace yourself. It’s only going to get sillier. We have Kraft Easy Mac and Pisllbury Ready To Bake Cookies. And others, all at a ridiculous markup. Me, I’m just waiting for the packaged, already cooked, pre-masticated pot roasts. Mmmm . . . digested . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/14 "2002-11-27T18:31:24Z")
no, what takes the cake is a ‘breakfast kit’. It has a mini box of cereal. a mini milk thing. disposable bowl and spoon. I know it is targeted to kids, but come on parents! put cereal in a rubbermaid bowl. put milk in rubbermaid container. Instruct child: put the milk in the bowl of cereal. how hard can it be to do? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/15 "2002-11-27T18:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > \*\*Pisllbury Ready To Bake Cookies. \*\* OOOHHHHHH!!! I hate those things! Half the fun of making cookies is licking the bowl and the beaters…what’s the fun of slicing a log, or Goddess forbid, pulling apart the pre-formed cookies from the slab, or worst of all, sliding the Big Cookie out of the package into the oven!! Lazy, I tell ya, lazy! Make the damn Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookies from scratch as the Deities intended, or don’t make them at all! (I’m calmed down now. Thanks for your concern.) ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/16 "2002-11-27T18:52:20Z")
**Ducky** , I’m not sure you’re looking at the big picture here. Let me try to put this delicately: You realize of course, that “mashed potatoes” are properly made from “potatoes” (roundish, lumpy, and brown) and not “instant potato mix” (polygonal, stackable, and red), don’t you? And that “gravy” is properly made from stock, and spices, and a little flour? Not jars? Proper mashed tater construction is not really that hard, but some people, in the name of convenience (or “sloth”, if you prefer), sacrifice all that ‘licious home-cookin’ goodness and purchase the instant boxes and jars. So on the one hand you’ve got people who buy taters and stock. On the other hand you’ve got people who buy boxes and cans. And on the third hand you’ve got people who buy boxes and cans _that are attached_. Aaaaaand you’re complaining about the people that take the easy way out by buying the _attached_ boxes and cans, instead of buying the boxes and can _seperately_. Isn’t that a little… incongruous? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/17 "2002-11-27T18:54:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \*My kids all knew how to make instant mashed potatoes out of the box by the time they were four years old, and could open a can of gravy by the time they were five. \*\* I hope my kids never even know that instant mashed potatoes or gravy in a can/jar exist! When they walk by it in the market, I want them to ask me how it’s even possible to get gravy in a can and why anyone would even want instant mashed potatoes. I won’t even comment on Kraft “cheese” and pasta products… ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/18 "2002-11-27T19:01:46Z")
The lady that won the largest lottery prize in Colorado (about 10 years ago) bought the ticket on a whim while visiting the store to buy a can of frosting! That set me off no end. I was baking cakes and making frosting from scratch when I was 8. She’s couldn’t be bothered to make her own, and WHAM! she’s $20 million richer. As you see, that still sets me off. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/19 "2002-11-27T19:05:13Z")
Perhaps it’s convenient? They do run these things through focus groups, blame them, or vote with your wallet. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154/20 "2002-11-27T19:06:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zut \* > So on the one hand you’ve got people who buy taters and stock. On the other hand you’ve got people who buy boxes and cans. And on the third hand you’ve got people who buy boxes and cans _that are attached_. Aaaaaand you’re complaining about the people that take the easy way out by buying the _attached_ boxes and cans, instead of buying the boxes and can _seperately_. Isn’t that a little… incongruous? 🙂 [cranky old man voice]: Why, when I was a kid, we didn’t have these fancy kits; We had to buy the instant potatoes and instant gravy in _seperate_ packages, by gum. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lipton-instant-mashed-potatoes-with-knorr-beef-gravy-mix-kit-and-its-purchasers/139154.md?page=2)