Why Rice-a-Roni is the San Francisco treat, but not really


I've had a running joke for many years with my brother who lives in the Bay Area that someday I'll visit him and we can go to San Francisco and have some Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat! Well, that's what the commercials always said, and we heard them quite often back when we were kids. The slogan is still used for Rice-a-Roni, as you can see from the pic at the top of this post, and while it actually is true that it was created by a small pasta company in San Francisco, right after World War II.

By the way, in case you're wondering, I do like Rice-a-Roni, and I'm influenced by the taste, not the advertising. If I didn't care for the taste, all of the advertising in the world couldn't get me to eat the stuff.


And as an old advertising guy, I started pondering the slogan "the San Francisco treat". And I'm inclined to think that it somehow gives the impression that Rice-a-Roni has always been part of the history of San Francisco. I'm picturing weary seafaring men coming into port in the 1800s and bellying up to the bar for some good old Rice-a-Roni! And that's just not true. It was really developed as part of the demand in the 1950s for convenience foods.

So, I'm still left with a bad taste in my mouth - from the slogan, not the product itself (which I consider delicious - try the cheddar and broccoli flavor!), but looking at the modern package I'm inclined to be satisfied that while it's still there, and the words Rice-a-Roni are surrounded by a graphic of a cable car, it isn't as if they were blatantly trying to imply that this is the number one claim of the city of San Francisco.

Hang on, I'll see if I can find a vintage Rice-a-Roni commercial on YouTube. Here ya go. Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat!


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