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Hostess Brands, the national bakery conglomerate, says it will go out of business, if the bankruptcy court will give it permission.
Few businesses in my childhood spent more on advertising than Hostess. Kids TV shows were bombarded with ads for Hostess Cup Cakes. I think, they originally only came in chocolate with chocolate icing, then occasionally with Twinkie cake and orange(!?!) icing. I have no idea why, but advertising for Twinkies seemed to be aimed at a slightly older audience. Wonder Bread was advertised all times of the day since it was a product for all ages. I think that Wonder Bread was the top selling national brand of bread for many years.
But advertising isn't everything. Kids grew up and discovered that Hostess Cup Cakes were actually disgusting: the icing was hard, the cake was never fresh and the "creamy filling" sometimes had nasty off flavors as the recipe changed over the years. Kids never minded. They were sweet and that was enough. But grownups got over them. I rarely hear about Hostess Cup Cakes anymore. Twinkies somehow did better. They were my favorite of the Hostess things when I was a kid. Maybe the cake tasted less stale. Wonder was one of the first brands to make bread that was both soft and not full of giant air pockets. It was a good idea. But many of us learned we liked the taste of the old, more crudely made, breads better.
My dad used to say the wheat and the rest of the ingredients in a loaf of bread cost almost nothing. It was the labor and the overhead we paid for when we bought bread at the grocery store. Hostess is blaming their unions for going out of business. Transportation costs for a national brand have to be high these days. The competition is also tough these days. I can buy Sarah Lee Bread cheaper than Wonder Bread.
If the Hostess trademark names don't get bought up, I guess I won't miss them much. Little Debbie will still be around for never-fresh baked goods, after all. But will the world be a better place without Ding Dongs and Chocodiles?
Few businesses in my childhood spent more on advertising than Hostess. Kids TV shows were bombarded with ads for Hostess Cup Cakes. I think, they originally only came in chocolate with chocolate icing, then occasionally with Twinkie cake and orange(!?!) icing. I have no idea why, but advertising for Twinkies seemed to be aimed at a slightly older audience. Wonder Bread was advertised all times of the day since it was a product for all ages. I think that Wonder Bread was the top selling national brand of bread for many years.
But advertising isn't everything. Kids grew up and discovered that Hostess Cup Cakes were actually disgusting: the icing was hard, the cake was never fresh and the "creamy filling" sometimes had nasty off flavors as the recipe changed over the years. Kids never minded. They were sweet and that was enough. But grownups got over them. I rarely hear about Hostess Cup Cakes anymore. Twinkies somehow did better. They were my favorite of the Hostess things when I was a kid. Maybe the cake tasted less stale. Wonder was one of the first brands to make bread that was both soft and not full of giant air pockets. It was a good idea. But many of us learned we liked the taste of the old, more crudely made, breads better.
My dad used to say the wheat and the rest of the ingredients in a loaf of bread cost almost nothing. It was the labor and the overhead we paid for when we bought bread at the grocery store. Hostess is blaming their unions for going out of business. Transportation costs for a national brand have to be high these days. The competition is also tough these days. I can buy Sarah Lee Bread cheaper than Wonder Bread.
If the Hostess trademark names don't get bought up, I guess I won't miss them much. Little Debbie will still be around for never-fresh baked goods, after all. But will the world be a better place without Ding Dongs and Chocodiles?