Cards Against Humanity Is Hiding Card Packs Inside Jars of ‘Clam-O-Naise’
Not weird at all ...
What does the irreverent party game Cards Against Humanity have to do with clams and mayonnaise (or, more accurately, clams in mayonnaise)? At some point in the past, nothing. But now, something.
The makers of the game have taken their dry, tongue-in-cheek humor to a viscous new level by introducing a clam-infused mayonnaise — Clam-O-Naise — with a bonus 30-card “clam pack” and a “mystery clam-o-prize” hidden deep inside every jar.
“Do you love CLAMS? Do you love MAYONNAISE? Then open wide for Clam-O-Naise, Cards Against Humanity’s tangy, garlicky mayo made with real clams,” the game brand trumpeted on Instagram.
With a tagline “Real clams. Real mayo. Real good,” Clam-O-Naise started out as an amusing stunt in which the game maker got its fans to try to persuade Hellmann’s to “bring back” a product that never actually existed. Now, though, the product is all too real.
Clam-O-Naise is being sold — for a limited time only — for $9.99 per jar exclusively via Target online and at Target stores in the game aisle. (It’s shelf stable.)
Cards Against Humanity tells Food Network via email that, while the company has previously put its cards in products including oatmeal and ice pops, embedding it in a mass-produced, clam-flavored mayonnaise was its most challenging gambit.
“A lot of work went into creating Clam-O-Naise,” a company spokesperson says in a press release. “We worked with food scientists, consulted professional chefs and did many taste-testings to develop a flavor that’s actually delicious and actually includes real clams.”
Early experimentation yielded different flavor profiles — at first a dill-flavored tartar sauce, later one that was even more garlicky and spicy than the final product. But Cards Against Humanity and its culinary collaborators — including “a chef friend with experience at multiple 2-and-3 Michelin-star restaurants” — eventually arrived at a balanced flavor that pairs perfectly with chips and sandwiches, the spokesperson said. (Find the company’s suggested recipes here.)
More difficult than developing the mayonnaise was coming up with a food-safe way to immerse the packet of game cards in the jars of mayo. (Should we call it “clamo”?) That process proved challenging.
“We spent months developing an FDA-approved, vacuum-packed, food-safe, mayo-proof card-wrapping system so that we could safely submerge the 30-card Clam Pack inside the mayonnaise,” the spokesperson told us.
Adding to the fun, within each Clam Pack is a unique QR code that customers can scan to win prizes including Clam-O-Merch, real pearls, clam-themed vacations or a one-of-a-kind Toyota Clamry.
So — hold up — why is a card-game company getting into the clam mayonnaise business?
“For fun,” the spokesperson said. “Our business philosophy is ‘do things that no reasonable company would do.’ We love to play around with food and comedy … Also, nothing is funnier than clams.”
Who can argue with that?
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