Conan O'Brien: White Chocolate, Bacon Hair

One of the food on a stick features at the Wisconsin State Fair this year was chocolate-covered bacon.

A few weeks ago, Conan O'Brien gave the fair some national publicity when he joked about it during his Tonight Show monologue.

CONAN O'BRIEN: The Wisconsin State Fair...

(Some audience members cheer.)

Are you from Wisconsin? OK, then you're going to love this....

Wisconsin State Fair has added chocolate-covered bacon to its menu.

(Audience cheers.)

Yeah, yeah, State Fair officials say that chocolate-covered bacon is perfect for Wisconsin residents who are in the mood for something light.

Once again, chocolate and bacon and a state fair have made their way onto the Tonight Show.

This time O'Brien wasn't doing a joke about chocolate and bacon and Wisconsin. He was showing off a gift he received from the Minnesota State Fair.

NOTE: Actually, the bust was a gift from No Name Premium Meats, a family-owned company that invested a good deal of money in creating the sculpture and delivering it to O'Brien.

The gift could be related to a promise O'Brien had made to KARE's Jeff Olsen. A few months ago, during an interview promoting the new Tonight Show, O'Brien talked about chocolate and bacon.

Conan says he's working on ways to put his stamp on the show, like taking the show on the road.

"You talked earlier about being willing to take the show on the road. Might I suggest the St. Paul Winter Carnival in January? We'll make you an ice desk," I said.

"I'm there," Conan said, pointing at the camera. "I love that idea. I will do it. An ice desk is a great idea. What guests do you think we can get?" he asked.

I suggested Prince.

"If you can get Prince, I'm there," Conan continued.

And if we can't get Conan a purple-clad rock star, the new State Fair meat treat might be our ticket to bringing the Tonight Show to the Twin Cities.

"I've heard you guys have a chocolate-covered bacon. I will take the Tonight Show to the State Fair for a week if I can get my body weight in chocolate-covered bacon," Conan said.

"Done deal," I said.

Tonight live from Los Angeles, but if Conan's word is good, someday maybe St. Paul.

"My favorite food in the world is when meat becomes candy," Conan said laughing.

There was a campaign on Facebook to get O'Brien to come to the Minnesota State Fair, but to no avail.

As of June 11, Minnesotans learned that it wasn't going to happen.

According to NBC, it does not look like Conan will be making it to the State Fair this year. HOWEVER, while this setback is disappointing, it gives us time to put together a SOLID campaign to bring Conan to the fair NEXT YEAR!!

Minnesotans are still seriously courting O'Brien.

On the show Wednesday night, O'Brien showed off the gift he said he received from the Minnesota State Fair.

CONAN O'BRIEN: I got a very nice gift. I get sent gifts all the time. From time to time, I get sent gifts. Very nice things, and they send them here to the show. But yesterday..., and I don't talk about it. I don't mention these things. People send in stuff that they've made. I don't really mention it, but something arrived yesterday that's truly spectacular. OK?

The Minnesota State Fair, this is real, sent a 200-pound bust of me. Here's the best part: It's made of white chocolate with bacon for hair.

I heard about this thing, and I thought, 'Eh, what the hell? What? Really?' And I saw it and it kind of blew our minds a little bit.

ANDY RICHTER: It's better than Michelangelo's David.

O'BRIEN: No, it's not!

RICHTER: Just trying to hype it up.

O'BRIEN: OK. Anyway, I'm very..., this thing came and these people at Minnesota State Fair put a lot of work into it. I'm very proud of it. Would you like to see it? I thought you might like to. Let's get him out here.





O'BRIEN: I've longed dreamed of this, but I never thought I'd see it happen.

During the commercial break the bust was moved outside the studio to be displayed. Unfortunately, during the move, the chocolate/bacon O'Brien fell and broke. The head snapped off, but staff worked to put it back together.



It looks like it lost a strip of bacon or two as well.

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UPDATE: Posted by a commenter on O'Brien's website -- "The chocolate bust was actually created by a Minnesota company called No Name Steaks, of which the bacon for Conan's hair is one of their products."

On this blog, Kristin posts, "An important correction to a great story: the sculpture did not come from the Minnesota State Fair at all. It came from a small, family-owned Minnesota meat company called No Name Premium Meats."

I think O'Brien should give credit where credit is due. He decided to use the sculpture. He should clarify that the gift was from No Name Premium Meats.
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UPDATE: The Star Tribune sets the record straight:

The 305-pound carving was a gift from the people at No Name Premium Meats of St. Michael, who responded to the slender star's on-air pledge that he would do his show for a week from the Minnesota State Fair if he could get his body weight in chocolate-covered bacon.

That pledge, made during an interview with NBC affiliate KARE a few months ago, caught the attention of the No Name people.

"[O'Brien] obviously loves bacon," company marketing director Josh Henderson said this morning, recounting how the gag got started. "So, why don't we send him a good old-fashioned Minnesota welcome?"

State Fair butter carver Linda Christensen -- you know, the one who does those Princess Kay of the Milky Way sculptures? -- turned 300 pounds of white chocolate and 5 pounds of thick-cut hickory bacon into O'Brien's likeness.

The artwork was sent to Los Angeles in a refrigerated truck, then found its way onto the show. From inside the studio, O'Brien ushered the bust outside for display, only to have the head fall off.

And there was one other hiccup in all of the dietary hilarity. O'Brien mistakenly credited the State Fair with the generous gastronomic gesture.

Henderson -- after all, he is in marketing -- acknowledged today that he wishes No Name would've gotten the coast-to-coast nod. Even so, he said, he has no hard feelings. "I love the State Fair."

That's very generous of Henderson.

For the record, our family regularly enjoys No Name products, quality and convenience at a reasonable price.