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Often, it’s not exactly clear what all the labels on food products mean. For example, what’s the difference between “cage-free” and “free-range” eggs? Is “all natural” the same as “organic”? And if something says there are “no added hormones,” is that identical to being “hormone-free”?
Label confusion like this can puzzle shoppers and occasionally lead them to purchasing items that they wouldn’t have otherwise. This may be why a 2019 poll found that over half of Americans believe food labels to be misleading, and 93% believe that companies are hiding ingredients like sugar by using different words on the food’s label.
Some labels can be deceiving. Others can be downright strange, as recently shared in a TikTok video from user Jordan (@jordanp_11).
Is This Chicken Really ‘Voice Activated’?
In her video, which currently has over 3.5 million views, Jordan shows a package of frozen boneless chicken breast.
However, upon looking more closely at the label, she discovers something strange.
“Voice activated?” she asks, confused. There is, in fact, a label on the chicken with the words “voice activated” and a picture of a microphone.
“Defrost!” Jordan yells at the frozen chicken, clearly not taking the “voice activated” note seriously.
But this left many wondering: What does this label mean?
Why Your Chicken Might Say It’s ‘Voice Activated’
The frozen chicken shown in the video is from a company called Sanderson Farms, which is based in Laurel, Mississippi. In 2019, the company announced that it was the first chicken producer to get into the voice-activated smart home space.
In short, this involved integration with devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, allowing customers to ask their smart speakers for recipes and cooking tips and get responses based on information from the company.
In an email to BroBible, a Sanderson Farms spokesperson further explained the addition of this “voice activation” message.
“We added this callout several years ago when Alexa Skills and Google Home devices hit the market, and were the first in our industry to give our recipes the capability of voice activation when consumers were following them by way of one of these devices,” the spokesperson wrote. “This capability made it so consumers didn’t have to use their dirty hands to touch a screen or recipe book while cooking. They could simply ask their device to say ‘next step’ or ‘repeat next step’ and so on.”
The spokesperson added that this feature is being phased out.
“We’ve had fun with it, but as technology has continued to advance at a rapid pace, the use of these skills by consumers has fallen off,” the spokesperson explained. “Therefore, we’ve recently deactivated these skills and consumers can look for a new look on our packaging to hit the market in just a few weeks.”
Commenters Chime In
In the comments section, many users played into the joke.
“You should sue them for false advertising,” wrote one commenter.
“Try unplucking it and plucking it back in again!” added another.
“Duh! you have got to connect to your wifi first,” laughed a third.
However, for those who were curious, additional commenters confirmed that the “voice activated” mark was, in fact, referring to Sanderson Farms’ smart speaker integration.
“It’s for recipes on your phone after you scan the QR code,” explained a commenter.
BroBible reached out to Jordan via TikTok direct message and comment.
Content shared from brobible.com.