What type of education does our kids need? According to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, they need “A1 teaching in every year.”

As reported by Fast Company (Linda McMahon just handed A.1. steak sauce an unbelievable opportunity, written by Grace Snelling and available here), McMahon, the former WWE CEO who is now charged with making sweeping decisions for 100 million American school children, repeatedly referred to AI technology as “A1” on a panel this week.

For McMahon, who was speaking at the ASU+GSV Summit for educators, it was an embarrassing misteak, er, mistake. But for Kraft Heinz’s A.1. steak sauce, it was basically free product placement—and the brand didn’t hesitate to take its cut.

McMahon’s first Emily Litella moment occurred when she shared an anecdote with the audience about “a school system that’s going to start making sure that first graders, or even pre-Ks, have A1 teaching in every year.” Matters only got worse when she continued, “Kids are sponges. They just absorb everything. It wasn’t all that long ago that it was, ‘We’re going to have internet in our schools!’ Now let’s see A1 and how that can be helpful.” Side note: an actual sponge could probably absorb a lot of A1! 😁

A.1. was thinking along the same lines. The brand jumped on Instagram last week with a spoofed ad for a McMahon-inspired A.1. bottle, complete with a photoshopped version of the sauce with the label “For educational purposes only” accompanied by the slogan, “Agree, best to start them early.” The post was captioned, “You heard her. Every school should have access to A.1.”

I’m sure some will have a beef with her over her comments, but maybe they’ll feel different after they let it marinate around in their heads for a bit. 🤣

So, what do you think? Would your life have turned out better if you had A1 teaching available in first grade? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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