cheryl
Administrator
Staff member
How marketers convinced America to eat fish sticks - The Hustle
There was never demand for fish sticks. But through a lot of savvy marketing and government assistance, they became an American staple anyway.
There is perhaps nothing more quintessentially American than the fish stick.
Where else but in this nation could one freeze processed whitefish into a brick, cut it up into deep-friable strips, and ship it to a landlocked region like Kansas for immediate consumption?
Since they were introduced in 1953, fish sticks have become an unlikely staple. Today, Americans eat 55m pounds of them per year — and during the pandemic, consumption has been on the rise.
But they weren’t always a mainstream hit.
There was never demand for fish sticks. But through a lot of savvy marketing and government assistance, they became an American staple anyway.
There is perhaps nothing more quintessentially American than the fish stick.
Where else but in this nation could one freeze processed whitefish into a brick, cut it up into deep-friable strips, and ship it to a landlocked region like Kansas for immediate consumption?
Since they were introduced in 1953, fish sticks have become an unlikely staple. Today, Americans eat 55m pounds of them per year — and during the pandemic, consumption has been on the rise.
But they weren’t always a mainstream hit.
