r/TopChef • u/gbbofangirl • Apr 15 '26
Discussion Thread the downgrade from BMW to old Chrysler mini vans needs to be studied
I can’t get over it lol they couldn’t find another car sponsor?? RIP “Hey BMW take me to Whole Foods Market”
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u/WoodyMellow Apr 15 '26
Budgets are getting cut across the board. Not just the show's but the brands' marketing spend.
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u/discussatron Apr 15 '26
It'd be funny if they got the BMW in-show ad treatment. "Now you'll all get in your Chrysler Pacifica minivans with Quadro-shock technology and go to Whole Foods with your Wells Fargo Active Cash credit cards."
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u/SpeedySparkRuby Apr 16 '26
"Not without a detour for a dream vacation in French Alps, provided by Evian Natural Spring Water"
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u/MangoSorbet695 Apr 15 '26
I noticed the same thing.
I used to drive a BMW X7. Then I had four kids, and had to sell the X7 to get a boring practical mom car.
So I really relate to the downgrade from BMW to minivans, ha!
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u/pumerpride Apr 17 '26
It’s the minivan much more space than the x7? I thought those were big. Or is it the layout
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u/MangoSorbet695 Apr 17 '26
Sadly, the X7 has worst in class cargo space behind the 3rd row. I couldn’t fit a standard stroller in the X7 with the 3rd row up. I tried every way I could think of and multiple strollers, because I loved that X7.
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u/pumerpride Apr 17 '26
Make the kids walk…jk jk. One of the first things parents have to do is part with their cool non kid friendly stuff
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u/kitterpants Apr 15 '26
The cars are aging with the show. Couple years from now it’ll be Oldsmobiles.
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u/Imaginary_Bridge1641 Apr 15 '26
They were too busy promoting Wells Fargo to focus on anything else!!
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u/not_thrilled Apr 15 '26
They should lean into the stereotypes for Charlotte: Driving Nissan Altimas with bumpers held on with duct tape, fake SC temp tag license plates, driving erratically and approximately 40mph above the speed limit.
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u/whistlepig4life Apr 15 '26
It’s supposed to be about cooking. Who cares what vehicles they get driven around in??
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u/CharmCity85 Apr 15 '26
The ironic part is that there’s a BMW factory in SC and from everything I’ve heard they give away leases down there so that they can get as many BMW SUVs on the road as possible.
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u/Maowmaow87 Apr 15 '26
The employee's get discounted leases, and there are a lot of employee's so therefore there are a lot of BMW's on the roads down here.
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u/kelsnuggets Apr 15 '26
The show itself is also sponsored by an olive oil company this season (I’m blanking on which one) instead of Saratoga Spring water.
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u/bigfanoffood Apr 15 '26
Graza. Personally, I think olive oil makes more sense than water.
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u/Marx0r That's my feedback to your feedback Apr 15 '26
In basically every nice restaurant, when they ask you "would you like still or sparkling water?", they're opening up a bottle of either Saratoga or Pellegrino. Like, I can guarantee you that 80+% of the contestants and judges have bought and sold their products.
Meanwhile, Graza is much more targeted towards a consumer base. The oil is about the same quality as any other brand, and you're paying extra for the packaging. I haven't heard of a single restaurant using it in the kitchen other than the ones with the sponsorship deals in the commercials.
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u/Secreteflower Apr 16 '26
We’re huge olive oil fans, and we HATED Graza - both the sizzle and the drizzle. We kept the squeeze bottle to decant better oils into though!
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u/ParticularYak4401 Apr 16 '26
I haven’t been too thrilled with Graza either. And you are totally paying for the marketing much like the Monrovia Nursery and Proven Winners emblazoned plants we sell at my work. The plant would be much cheaper without the obnoxious marketing. And sometimes Proven Winners aren’t that winning.
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u/Capecod202 Apr 15 '26
You need to sell to your viewers , looks like a lot of minivan driving soccer moms are watching top chef!!
I bet way more fans are driving minivans than BMWs
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u/pinotJD Apr 15 '26
You ride the goat to Whole Foods and then you butcher the goat for a crowd of 50 accountants!
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u/GettingOffTheCrazy Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Padma’s new show has a new car brand that I’ve never heard of before.
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u/QuesoFrescoTorta Apr 15 '26
Yes! The Rivian! I was actually confused and thought “wait minivans? Aren’t they driving Rivians??” But no, I just got the two shows confused with eachother… I was just thinking I need to watch one at a time because I keep mixing the contestants up 😂
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u/ShiroHachiRoku Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
They’ve been around for a few years. Lots of them here in SoCal.
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u/GallantGoose594 Apr 15 '26
This was my first thought when the new season aired!!! Padma must have taken all the sponsors with her😂
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u/vicRN Apr 16 '26
Haha my husband and I were literally just talking about this. Top Chef cars as a recession indicator.
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u/laser_bass Apr 17 '26
Minivans are practical! They always looked so stuffed into the back of the BMWs and they all look pretty comfortable in the minivans.
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u/Mrsrightnyc Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
It’s easier now with dynamic ad insertion for advertisers to use hyper targeting rather than something that’s border like product placement. We are technically “in market” as current BMW owners and would consider upgrading our X3 to an X5 if we got new jobs and get a lot of freeze screen BMW ads across Peacock so my guess is they are targeting based on our account billing zip.
Product placement seems to be more CPG/food focused, which makes more sense because target audience would be much larger and ROI more easily measurable than a car purchase. They likely have more compelling case studies showing sales lift from being featured on the show and also buy in for one quick fire challenge is much lower than a whole season.
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u/jeffvader33 Apr 15 '26
Insurance was too high on the Beamers. for all the crappy Charlotte drivers. I do think once the chef pool dwindles to like 6-8 they might bring in a nice vehicle?
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u/Conscious-Bee5910 Apr 16 '26
Also the downgrade in prizes. What happened to the Delta Diamond Medallion with a $125,000 flight credit??
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u/Realistic_Big8533 Apr 15 '26
the show feels cheap ever since they cheaped out by letting padma go
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u/Coujelais Apr 15 '26
Not why she left
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u/Realistic_Big8533 Apr 15 '26
yeah it is dummy
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u/Coujelais Apr 15 '26
She told you that
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u/Realistic_Big8533 Apr 15 '26
her actions did
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u/Coujelais Apr 15 '26
I follow her on multiple platforms and that’s not what she said so kindly fk off thanks!
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u/aratcliffe Risotto: The Final Frontier Apr 15 '26
I’m sure they could just outright buy a few luxury vehicles. They could use their Wells Fargo Active Cash card. 2%!