Butterball.com – Online Savior for Turkey Virgins

I am hosting a small family Thanksgiving this year at my modest Louisville home. As a 26-year-old, I’ve been bringing a side dish or dessert to the big meal for the last few years. But having a big, beautiful turkey centerpiece at Thanksgiving is always the responsibility of the host — and it’s something that I have admittedly taken for granted my entire life.
That is, until this year. For me, the pressure is still pretty low. It’ll just be me, my husband, Mom, Granner, (What? I’m sure there are weirder Grandma names out there) and my brother and sister. But there have got to be young cooks out there who will be hosting in-laws, cousins, aunts, uncles, even friends or co-workers. Those are the people who are scared featherless to get their first Thanksgiving turkey right.
In an attempt to capture that young audience in their most vulnerable, horrified moment, and stuff them with a little brand loyalty, Butterball has taken to the web. It seriously runs the gamut on online resources for turkey cooks. The site has YouTube videos, podcasts, tips and articles, portion calculators, recipes, and a mobile site that makes it easy to view all this content from your phone.
I was most shocked to learn that 1-800-BUTTERBALL is a national hotline that has been talking cooks through turkey emergencies every November and December for 30 years. Yes, seriously! Since 1981, people have been calling a “Turkey Talk-Line Expert” when they accidentally catch their bird on fire. You can’t deny, the brand has found its niche. I may not be a terrified first-timer, but I will probably end up going with Butterball for my first Thanksgiving turkey. Their ability to evolve with the times, offering the new generation of turkey-makers advice and help in all the online mediums we use, has got me pretty buttered up.