The Turkey Talk-Line, which has been around since 1981, puts callers in touch with “turkey experts” who can provide guidance through just about every Thanksgiving emergency you can think of, turkey-related or otherwise.
What exactly is a turkey expert?
“They are food scientists, culinary trained folks, home economists. Stuff like that,” says Butterball executive Al Jansen. “They really know what they’re doing.”
But taking a job at the Turkey Talk-Line requires more than just book or cook smarts: the line is about emotional support above all else. Jansen says that the average tenure of a turkey expert is 14 years and that some have been involved from the beginning. These are people who’ve seen it all, and they can assure you that whatever mishap you’re facing isn’t that bad.
“They’ve got to be kind of the right personality and the right mindset,” says Jansen. “You’ve really gotta want to help people.”
With an increase in "Friendsgiving" celebrations, many people now have to prepare enough food for two dinners.
Courtesy of Butterball
Butterball keeps a record of the funniest Talk-Line anecdotes, and the list is a trip to read. A man whose wife had just given birth called one day with concerns that the turkey had been thawing too long while they were at the hospital. When the operator asked for the weight, the man responded, “The turkey or the baby?”
They experts have had to step in and help resolve family spats, such as the case of a woman who called and asked the operator to pick a side in a disagreement between her mother and mother-in-law on the best way to cook a turkey.
And, yes, they offer advice about sides as well, as they did for a man who was carrying a cooked turkey in a suitcase across New York City to his mother’s house and had called on the way to ask how to make gravy.
While these stories are hilarious, the list we were given underscores that a lot of these mishaps are more common than you might think. There’s no judgment at the Turkey Talk-Line.
As Thanksgiving dinners return to their pre-pandemic sizes and “Friendsgiving” celebrations become more common, Butterball is dedicated to helping freaked-out hosts rise to the occasion. In addition to the hotline, they’ve been consistently uploading tips and tricks to their social media pages and have even partnered with Bumble for Friends to create Find Your Table, an initiative to help people who would otherwise celebrate Thanksgiving alone find like-minded people to share a meal with. They hope these services can take some of the stress off customers and put more focus on the true meaning of the holiday: togetherness.
Butterball and Bumble for Friends are teaming up to connect people who don't want to spend Thanksgiving alone.
Courtesy of Butterball
