Meditations on Hamburger Helper

I was returning home earlier today when I heard over the radio an advertisement for Hamburger Helper. At the end, it went something like this:

"One pound, one pan, food for the whole family. And for those on the go, try new Hamburger Helper singles."

And so on.

I remember, not even very long ago, commercials for Hamburger Helper that emphasized it as something the family could come together around. Now first of all, I don't think that Hamburger Helper is the first thing that pops into my head when I think of family meals. Secondly, and here I reach the point, are we really that bad that we don't have time for a Hamburger Helper meal?

I should stop here, since the above question is a heavily loaded one, and one I'm still considering. Perhaps at this point it is an antiquated view that meals are a family event. They certainly aren't at my house. Is this a sign of something bad? Are the conservatives right, and are we destroying the children? My first observation is on this point, and has to do with conservatives, specifically American ones. These Hamburger Helper singles, if my above question is a good one, are potentially damaging to the family, yes? So a conservative should be opposed to such treatment of meals. And yet, this conflicts quite directly with that other conservative strand, the economic one. I remember considering, after hearing the commercial, whether or not the singles were just a product made to take advantage of a situation already there, or if they might be said to be creating a problem with families (in a representative sense). The fiscal conservative would seemingly would seemingly support these things, the moral conservative oppose them. This is just an example of a larger thought that's been in my mind lately, demonstrated through Hamburger Helper.

Also, what about my consideration above? Are products like these taking advantage of a problem already there (provided it is a problem), or are they creating a problem? Are they doing both, like a cheesy infection in the festering sore of the family? I think this is important because, if we want to do something about it, we should know if it is a cause.

Of course, much of the above assumes something of a morally conservative or communitarian point of view, one which I do not include myself among the members of. That does not necessarily mean that in my opinion they know nothing, either. Either way, the above thoughts are more like theses than anything else, and largely incomplete. Perhaps I shall write my dissertation on the societal influences of individually packaged Hamburger Helper and its consequent demonstration of the modern American zeitgeist someday.