Recently, I’ve noticed Drew Barrymore all over my social media feeds, passionately endorsing bags of grass seed with the tagline, “Choose Instead.”

While celebrities endorsing products isn’t a new phenomenon, I’m all for it if the product is good and delivers a beneficial message. Here, the message is enticing:

1. The fertilizers we offer better your lawn with natural nutrients, maintaining its organic feel.
2. Our ingredients release slowly and are designed to minimize waterway run-off, which might lead to algal growth.
3. Ingredients that are safe for pollinators (zero pesticides) ensure a thriving backyard ecosystem.

Barrymore’s appeal to the product, as per an industry magazine, is the brand’s dedication to environmentally friendly ingredients. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?

Is the Advice Reliable? The ingredients seem natural, but without expertise in the area, I can’t verify their effectiveness.

The “Choose Instead” website prompts users to input their zip code, aiming to offer area-specific guidance and products. However, after entering my own Zone 7 code, the recommendations seemed mismatched for my region’s mix of warm-season and cool-season grasses.

How Effective is the Product?

If you have expertise in these ingredients, do share your insights. The mentioned “Happy Summer Fertilizer” claims to revitalize and fortify grass against summer’s harshness. The formula includes: molasses, feather meal, wheat flour meal, blood meal, potash sulfate, zeolite, and NPK (11-0-2).

Who’s their Specialist? Being a garden enthusiast, I was curious about the experts behind the brand. However, their website remains tight-lipped on this. An email to their press contact yielded no reply, which was disappointing.

At this point, I’m skeptical. I’d recommend considering alternatives before settling for “Instead.”

Recent Update: An informant shared a New York Times article which mentions that the company, Instead, is backed by Scotts, a dominant name in lawn care. Perhaps Drew isn’t aware of the negative press around Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Katie Couric and Her Garden Venture Moving on, Katie Couric seems to be capitalizing on the gardening trend, especially with the rise in gardening enthusiasts due to the pandemic. But if it involves celebrities like Couric, posing as gardening experts and taking revenue from genuine gardening professionals, it’s off-putting.

Couric promotes ten gardening products on her website. The rationale for trusting her choice? Simply because she adores her garden, as per her Instagram account. There’s no clarity on her gardening skills or involvement.

A scan of her Instagram only unveiled a few garden-themed photos with no backstory on the gardens or her involvement in them.

For those truly dedicated to gardening, Couric’s venture into the niche might seem inauthentic, especially when genuine gardening bloggers earn a small commission, as meager as 3% through affiliate programs.

And that’s my two cents on the matter.