Minnesota isn’t exactly the center of glitz and glamour, but that doesn’t mean a few meager paycheck-earning college journalists can’t live it up like the stars.
The Republican National Convention is the closest you could come to a political awards show (aside from the more celebrity-laden Democratic National Convention), so it’s not surprising that we were greeted with goodie bags upon arrival.
But this isn’t your average $1,000 bottle of Chanel perfume, $10,000 gold Rolex watch gift basket that have been so popularized by the mainstream media. No no no, we get something better — collector’s edition Republican National Convention Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
Now, we might not ethically be able to accept such enticing gifts, so I want to make it clear that we are not being bought by anybody. But when I first laid eyes on the elephant shaped pasta pieces, I knew a collector’s dream was packaged in the blue rectangular box.
I can only imagine what kind of money this “Limited Convention Edition” box of Mac & Cheese could produce on eBay. There’s a market for things like that, I’m sure of it. My own father often purchases random crap online as long as it meets two nonspecific qualifications: rare and useless.
Still, there’s something intriguing about a cartoon elephant in a suit holding a “Republicans in 2008” sign over a bowl of macaroni. As bizarre as it is that somebody would scour eBay for something like this box of food, it’s even crazier to think about how commercial these important national political events have become.