February 28, 2020 - News Post

When I was younger, I saw a steak sauce commercial one time.

It has never left my mind.

In this commercial, a man grills a leather boot. When he’s done cooking, he throws the boot onto a plate and splatters it with what is clearly meant to be A-1 Steak Sauce. As this happens, a narrator speaks directly to the audience.

“Is your steak sauce so overpowering it doesn’t matter what you pour it on?” He asks.

Now, it's been decades. I have not seen that commercial since I was a kid. But one thing has stuck with me the entire time:

That is the most delicious looking boot I’ve ever seen!!!

I believe the commercial was meant to promote Heinz 57 steak sauce, a competing product. You know, back before A-1 and Heinz 57 were owned by the same company. Heinz's point was that a sauce that makes a boot look savory is somehow an inferior product. The commercial did not have the desired effect.

I've never wanted to eat a boot so much in my life (until that point). Not a year goes by that I don't think about how wonderful that boot must have tasted. The weird part? I don't even eat steak. I don't crave it, I don't think about it. But if you were to offer me a plate full of boot smothered in A-1, you’d have a hard time keeping drool off of my shoes

I'm not even the only one who feels this way. I've talked to many of my friends who watched that commercial and thought the same thing.

To anyone looking to make their own steak sauce: If your sauce is so good it makes a boot look delicious-- in a competitor's commercial--- you've done your job right.

Damn, I could go for some A-1 right now.

This post was not brought to you by A-1 Steak Sauce. But if it was, it would taste fantastic.

-Jeff