Scott is the founder of Influencer Capital and CELEB. He is a thought leader on the creator economy and celebrity business space. Influencer Capital is an organization that structures equity deals between startups and creators/celebrities.
Guest Author: Scott Van den Berg
Can Eminem build a billion-dollar spaghetti brand?
Even 21 years after its release, Slim Shady’s 2002 song “Lose Yourself” is still racking up the hits —and revenue — for Eminem.
The lyrics for the rap song include the frequently-quoted phrase: His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy / There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti. Somewhere along the way in its rise up the top 40 charts, “mom’s spaghetti” became a trademark of the Detroit-proud rapper.
Just as there appears to be no deadline for how long “Lose Yourself” can get stuck in our heads, there’s no expiration date for how long Eminem can capitalize on the popularity of one of his mom’s signature dishes.
In 2017, Eminem opened a Mom’s Spaghetti pop-up restaurant in Detroit, with menu items like Mom’s Spaghetti, Mom’s Spaghetti with Meatballs, and the S’getti Sandwich. The eatery was so popular that in 2021, it grew into its permanent home across from Detroit’s Comerica Park.
And since November, you no longer need to make a trip to Michigan to dive fork-first into one of Eminem’s favorite meals.
“From the D 2 ur kitchen hashtag#momsspaghetti sauce is droppin 10/26 Link in bio,” Eminem wrote in the Instagram caption for a video of a jar of sauce falling from the sky and shattering on a red checkered tablecloth, right next to a takeout container overflowing with noodles.
Featuring ground tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, sugar, garlic, carrots, canola oil, “spices,” sea salt, and red wine vinegar, mom’s recipe “was born with a clear mission: taste like a leftover sauce the first time around,” according to the Mom’s Spaghetti website. “
So how should you enjoy it, according to Em? Don your coziest sweater, then “pull some pre-cooked spaghetti from the fridge and reheat in a frying pan while adding your Mom’s Spaghetti sauce … It’s ready when the noodles have a bit of a snap and the sauce is heated to taste.”
Sales for 25-ounce jars of Eminem’s Mom’s Spaghetti Pasta Sauce opened on momsspaghetti.com on October 26. As of October 30, when orders were expected to begin shipping nationwide, they were already sold out. No need to get those palms sweaty, though. More sauce is being simmered soon, and interested buyers can sign up on the site to be emailed when more single ($13) and two-pack ($25) are available.
With a price point of $13 per jar of spaghetti sauce and only one physical restaurant, I don’t think Eminem has plans to disrupt the space. However, I do think his move to combine physical locations with a product that could be sold in retail is very interesting. What do you think?
