Butterball Made A Gadget That Tells Your Thanksgiving Guests To Get Off the Couch

I have a theory that some people are genetically incapable of ignoring a sink full of dirty dishes. Others can sit four feet away from a mountain of dirty cookware and remain completely unbothered. They might even ask what’s for dessert.

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I’d love to know how their brains work. Me, I can’t relax when there’s a kitchen full of dishes waiting to be washed. Which is why I find Butterball’s latest invention so entertaining.

The turkey company has created a gadget that tells Thanksgiving guests to get off their backsides and help with the chores. And rather than requiring the host to deliver an awkward lecture about everyone pulling their weight, the responsibility falls to a small, vibrating turkey.

I’d pay good money to watch this unfold at a family gathering.

Butterball Has Invented A Turkey That Assigns Chores

The Butterball Buddy is a little retro-style, turkey-shaped device that gets passed around between Thanksgiving guests.

Every so often, it chimes and vibrates, and whoever happens to be holding it gets assigned a timed task―setting the table, washing dishes, helping out in the kitchen. You know the drill. Once you’ve finished your assignment, you pass the turkey to the next person.

That’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway.

I can imagine a particularly competitive Thanksgiving descending into absolute chaos. Nana’s trying to hand it to Uncle Dave, Uncle Dave’s pretending he hasn’t noticed, and someone’s quietly slipped it into the baby’s stroller. And then it starts vibrating. Congratulations, Nana. You’re on dish duty.

Most Thanksgiving Hosts Want Help But Won’t Ask

Butterball’s 2026 Thanksgiving survey found that 85% of hosts want their guests to offer help, yet only 38% actually ask for it.

I find that quite interesting, because it says a lot about how strange we can be around the people we’re closest to. You can spend an entire day cooking for your family, but asking your brother to wash a saucepan suddenly feels like an enormous imposition.

But Butterball has found a way around the whole conversation. The turkey hands out the jobs, everyone gets involved, and nobody has to feel guilty about asking.

Although I do wonder whether the device comes with a setting for the family member who needs to be told three times before they move. A mild electric shock, perhaps.

You Can Get A Butterball Buddy For Free

The Buddies are free, but quantities are limited. Butterball is offering them through ButterballBuddy.com across three November releases, scheduled for the 2nd, 9th, and 16th at 1PM ET, while supplies last.

The device also doubles as a kitchen timer after Thanksgiving, so you can keep using it long after the turkey leftovers have disappeared.

And if I were the one hosting Thanksgiving, I wouldn’t leave the assignments entirely to chance.

I’d be keeping a very close eye on who was holding that turkey.