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Jell-O Invented a Device To Settle an Age-Old Debate
The JELL-OMETER is scientific and impartial.
Image Courtesy of The Kraft Heinz Company
When Jell-O’s latest news landed in my inbox last week, I was sure it was an April Fool’s joke.
“For 125 years, Jell-O's signature jiggle has been the most delicious quality in the dessert aisle. Now it's a unit of measurement,” the brand said in an email. “Jell-O is launching the JELL-OMETER: a first-of-its-kind device that transforms the iconic jiggle into the official metric for sports fandom.”
Strange, right? But a spokesperson promised — and I made her promise twice — that it was not a joke.
“Really … it’s real,” she said.
It’s also really funny.
What is Jell-O’s new JELL-OMETER?
The JELL-OMETER is a device that Jell-O has made that uses a proprietary “plate-sensing technology" to capture “real-time crowd vibrations from stadium cheering.”
Basically, the device features what the brand calls — somewhat unsettlingly — a “live Jell-O mold.” The vibrations from the noise and movement of a crowd of fans excitedly cheering, clapping, chanting and stomping at a live sporting event causes the Jell-O to wobble and shake. The device measures that movement and converts it into a “Jiggle Score.” The score output ranges from 1 (the “gentle hum of a microwave”) to 10 (“full earthquake-level chaos”).
Jell-O calls these “Jiggles,” or “Js,” the “new, official metric to measure the loudest and proudest sports fans.” It says the JELL-OMETER itself is the “first-ever device to measure fan intensity.”
“While a traditional decibel meter tells you how loud something is, the JELL-OMETER shows you what that energy feels like, creating an interactive way to experience crowd intensity,” Jell-O says.
Why is Jell-O launching the JELL-OMETER?
First of all, we’re talking about it right now — you can call that a success.
However, the brand is also offering a way to settle a longstanding debate.
“As the inventors of the jiggle more than 125 years ago, we knew we had a unique opportunity to visually measure sound in a way no one else could," Kathryn O’Brien, head of marketing for desserts at Jell-O parent company Kraft Heinz, says in a news release. "With the JELL-OMETER, we’re bringing the iconic Jell-O jiggle to sports to give the fans something they’ve long waited for — the opportunity to secure bragging rights on who has the most passionate fanbase.”
Whose fans cheer loudest and put out the most intense energy? O’Brien touts the JELL-OMETER’s impartiality, promising the device “doesn't take sides. It just measures the madness.”
How will the JELL-OMETER be used?
It’s already hard at work. Jell-O debuted the JELL-OMETER on April 3 at a New York Islanders hockey game.
“With every cheer, chant and fan eruption from puck drop to final buzzer, Islanders fans were the first to put their fandom to the JELL-OMETER test,” Jell-O says.
The Islanders’ Jiggle Score at that game was 8.4, Jell-O tells us. Impressive.
As for where the JELL-OMETER will be deployed next, that’s up to fans. Jell-O is inviting sports fans to nominate their teams to have their fan excitement measured by commenting on @JELLO channels across social media.
It’s a “Have Jell-O mold; will travel” situation.
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