Freshman Immersion: Malcolm Gladwell's The Ketchup Conundrum

Thursday, 13 January 2011

Greetings Parents of Freshman:

On behalf of the Freshman Immersion Team (Mrs. Kemper, Mr. Munhofen, Mrs. Sparks, & Mr. Williams), we are thrilled to be working with the Class of 2014 this year. We have already held a couple class meetings with your daughters and sons to talk about initial goals and activities for the program.

During lunch today, we discussed an article by Malcolm Gladwell, titled “The Ketchup Conundrum,” that was distributed to all Freshman before Winter Break. The author relates stories from marketing and product research from some of America’s favorite condiments (including Grey Poupon mustard, Prego extra-chunky tomato sauce, and Heinz ketchup) to patterns in advertising, consumer preference, the chemistry of taste, and the larger concepts of choice, taste, and happiness. We had a fruitful (pardon the pun) discussion today, with a number of students contributing interesting insights.

The article, originally published in The New Yorker Magazine, can be read or downloaded from the following weblink: http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_09_06_a_ketchup.html

Additionally, you can view Malcolm Gladwell’s video presentation on the “pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce” as part of the “TED Talks” series on the TED website at: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

We will host a parent information meeting in early February, during which details about Freshman Immersion will then be distributed. Again, we are excited to be working with your children and cannot wait for Immersion to begin!

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School