In an age where dinner tables are often lit up by phone screens, a pasta sauce brand has come up with a unique tech-driven idea to find its place not just in the kitchen, but on the dinner table as well. Prego, a pasta sauce brand in the US, has announced an unusual new launch - one that does not involve a new flavour or product line, but a recording device meant to sit alongside your pasta bowl. Rolled out in partnership with oral history nonprofit StoryCorps, the newly announced "Connection Keeper" is designed to capture family mealtime conversations, turning everyday dinners into recorded memories. While the idea has intrigued some, it has left others raising privacy concerns.
What Is The New 'Connection Keeper' Device?
According to a press release issued by Prego, the brand has collaborated with StoryCorps to help families "turn everyday dinners into moments worth remembering". The result is the Connection Keeper, a screen-free, gold-coloured, puck-shaped recording device intended to sit on dining tables during meals.
Priced at USD 20 (Rs 1900), the limited-edition bundle will be available from April 27, and fewer than 100 units are expected to be produced, reported Wired.
The device is designed to be intentionally simple, featuring one-button recording and no AI, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity. Prego says it requires no technical knowledge, making it easy for both children and adults to use.
Built To Survive And Capture Busy Mealtimes
Prego describes the Connection Keeper as durable enough to "withstand the chaos of family dinners". Once conversations are recorded, the audio can be transferred via USB-C and uploaded to the StoryCorps portal, allowing families to store, revisit or share their recordings across devices.
The company has also emphasised privacy controls. "Family-controlled privacy, you decide who can access your recordings," Prego said, adding that users retain full control over where their audio is stored and shared.
The recordings aim to capture natural, unscripted moments. "The Connection Keeper records the laughter, stories, and cherished moments that happen naturally over a meal and saves those recordings to revisit for years to come, without phones, screens, or distractions getting in the way," the brand said.
Who Is Behind The Unique Mealtime Recording Device?
Prego is an Italian-style pasta sauce brand owned by Campbell's, while StoryCorps is a nonprofit organisation known for recording and preserving oral histories of everyday Americans. StoryCorps' archived interviews are housed at the US Library of Congress, and buyers of the Connection Keeper bundle can choose whether or not their recorded dinner conversations are added to the Congress collection.
The shared goal, according to both organisations, is encouraging families to put phones aside and reconnect through conversation over a meal.
"Everything now is AI, and everyone has their phones on the table," said Elyce Henkin, managing director of StoryCorps studios and brand partnerships, as reported by The Sun. "It interrupts the conversation and the flow. We wanted to get rid of that and go back to the basics and have everyone talking to each other."
How People Are Reacting To Pasta Sauce Company's Recording Device
The idea of a dinner conversation recording device has sparked strong and mixed reactions online:
One wrote, "Your phone already does that, though?" Another joked, "The mafia loves their pasta but hates the recording of evidence."
A user said, "Why would I want a company to spy on me even more ??" Another added, "Prego x Palantir collab in 2026, what a time to be alive."
One questioned, "Why would I want my dinner conversation in the Library of Congress?" A comment read, "Recording dinner conversations is surveillance with extra steps, not 'getting off phones'."
Others expressed more nuanced views, weighing the emotional value against privacy concerns.
An X user said, "Love the idea of capturing family stories, but is it a little too invasive to have a recording device on the table during dinner? I'd need to think twice about that."
Some users, however, welcomed the concept. One wrote, "This is actually a pretty sweet idea in a world where phones kill every real conversation. Prego teaming up with StoryCorps to help families actually talk, laugh, and create stories worth keeping, without screens getting in the way, feels like a win. Those unscripted dinner moments are the ones we miss most later."
Another post summed up the irony while acknowledging its appeal: "trying to get people off their phones with a recording device is ironic, but the idea of preserving real conversations and memories is actually kind of interesting if done right."