Behold the power of bacon

Brandweek recently decried a move by Denny’s to create a limited-time menu consisting entirely of bacon-infused goodies (including a bacon and vanilla ice cream sundae), calling it “an old marketing maneuver—albeit a successful one—that’s sat at the back of most every restaurant chain’s playbook […] for years now.”

We’ll readily admit that bacon is, for lack of a better phrase, totally awesome, but does Brandweek have a point? Has bacon, which seems to have gained popularity in recent years (if that’s even possible), reached its peak marketing potential? We don’t think so. In fact, we think there are still new, uncharted culinary territories for bacon.

But before we consider where bacon could go, let’s take a moment to ponder some of the wonderful (and unusual) places bacon has popped up in recent years.

• THE BLOGOSPHERE – Entire blogs and websites are now dedicated to bacon. Bacon Today and the always entertaining Mr. Baconpants are just two of many examples.

• CONDIMENTS (AND MORE) – Thanks to the guys at J&D’s (tagline: “Everything should taste like bacon”), the world now has Bacon Salt (in four varieties), Baconnaise (regular and light!), bacon popcorn, bacon-flavored lip balm, and Mmmvelopes (bacon-flavored lick-and-seal envelopes).

• BACON APPAREL – Literally hundreds of t-shirts with clever bacon-themed artwork and phrases can be had. Our favorites: “Bacon is meat candy” and the simple “I heart bacon” (available at Baconshirts.com).

• BACON DENTAL CARE – Yes, bacon dental floss and bacon toothpicks are real. (Ed. note: We have not actually tried either product. They could be awful, but they’re fantastic ideas.)

• BACON DIET COKE – Actually, this bacon spin-off is a hoax, but it did create quite a stir in the bacon community when images of the product hit the web a few years back. Wait a second – we’ve now learned that bacon-flavored soda is a reality bestowed upon the world through a partnership between the guys at J&D’s and Jones Soda.

• BACON CHOCOLATE – Bacon + chocolate. Need we say more?

So what food and beverage avenues are left for bacon to make its deliciously greasy mark on?  We’ll offer some suggestions in an entry next week. In the meantime, we’re headed to Denny’s for a BBBLT sandwich. Anything with eight strips of hickory-smoked bacon has to be good, right?