Hands Off!

By Melissa August, Amanda Bower, Matthew Cooper, Steven Frank, Macabe Keliher, Ling Minhua, Ellin Martens, Michele Orecklin, Julie Rawe, Sora Song, Josh Tyrangiel

An idea as good as having famous people trace their hands and draw turkeys on them doesn't come along every day. But this year, as TIME gathered its brood for the fourth time, it was revealed that Butterball was doing the exact same thing. Intellectual-property suits, national boycotts and even some extra-legal methods were considered to protect the popular Thanksgiving franchise. But instead, each of our participants agreed not to appear in the Butterball campaign, choosing to keep it real. And for that, we put our hands together.