• by Sarah Mahoney , 3 hours ago

Thanksgiving menus may be ruled by tradition, but that hasn’t stopped brands from trying to meddle with the country’s most predictable meal. Kraft Heinz is pitching squeezable gravy. Jell-O is reviving its ugliest molds. Knorr is spoofing explicit pics. And Costco, as usual, is feeding FoodTok, this time with a luxe Lobster Mac n’ Cheese.

Heinz says its new gravy bottle is inspired by the “Friends” episode, the one with Ross Geller introducing the world to the “Moist Maker,” the leftover turkey sandwich with a gravy-soaked slice of bread in the middle. The squeezable bottle is available exclusively on Walmart.com, and select orders include a limited-edition Heinz Leftover Gravy Kit and recipe card.

Heinz isn’t stopping there. Its Jell-O brand is pushing a tongue-in-cheek revival of century-old Thanksgiving molds — the kind many discerning diners dread seeing on the table. The new “No Thanks” Thanksgiving lineup turns those oft-mocked creations into 100% Jell-O versions of Brussels sprouts (America’s least-loved Thanksgiving vegetable), cranberry sauce and pecan pie.

Knorr is veering in a different direction for November, spoofing the flood of unwanted explicit pics with a “Dish Pics” campaign. The work transforms the unwelcome genre into glossy shots of savory dishes inspired by its Knorr Premium Flavor Bases. The brand teamed with local artists in cities across the country, swapping illicit images for food-centric street art.

“Our dish pics are here to remind everyone that real sparks fly in the form of a home-cooked meal,” said C.J. Magwood, Knorr’s marketing director, in the announcement. The campaign includes 52 pieces of food-inspired art, from murals to chalk renderings.

Costco is also having its moment, thanks to a four-pound tray of cold-water lobster meat, cavatappi pasta and cheddar cheese. Priced under $30, the indulgent tray bake has been making the rounds on social-media food accounts, with influencers calling it a surprise crowd-pleaser.

But despite the creativity, America’s Thanksgiving table doesn’t change much. New findings from Butterball — still the leading turkey brand — show that while guest counts are creeping back toward prepandemic norms (about nine people on average, up from five in 2020), consumers aren’t looking to overhaul the menu. Roughly 58% say they aren’t making cost-saving cutbacks, and 84% are preparing a turkey.