One of the most knowledgeable and highly respected chefs with a worldwide reputation once worked developing menus for Howard Johnson’s Restaurants back in the day and it certainly hasn’t done him any harm. Jacques Pepin speaks of this aspect of his early career so it’s certainly nothing to be ashamed about. Currently, a guy widely respected for his encyclopedic knowledge of food, Alton Brown, appears in commercials for Welch’s grape juice and it doesn’t seem to have done him any harm either. I suppose there may be some snobby pretentious ( or jealous) chefs who tout themselves as being above such things as crass commercialism, who may look down their noses a bit. But if someone has the “goods” it doesn’t really matter who says what. By that I mean that if they have a good solid culinary education and/or experience under their belt combined with dedication and creativity, it tends to render others’ snobbishness a moot point. Some have been hyper-critical of Rachel Ray, but she has NEVER claimed to be a chef. She describes herself as a practical home cook and she’s very unpretentious about it. Were she the opposite of that, I could cede their right to gripe. Her recipes aren’t really my cup of tea, but she prsents herself and her skills and training ( or lack thereof) very honestly so I think a lot of the complaining is just sour grapes. Even she refuses to call herself a chef, so why are all these chefs griping. Apples and Oranges. The qualities she does possess like dedication and willingness to work really really hard (killer hours and a hectic schedule) are what has made her a success and she deserves the fruits of her labors. I suppose that excessive commercialism can be a shortcut to easy money for some, but the ones THEY seem to complain about the most are the ones who have worked the hardest to attain the commercial success they now enjoy.