Friday, March 6, 2009

Politically Correct Cookies?

Girl Scout Cookies. Mmmm. . . they're so good. I have long maintained that if I could choose the name for a boy band, it would be Girl Scout Cookies. Everyone loves Girl Scout Cookies! Plus, what do you want to bet that adoring fans would shower them with. . . Girl Scout Cookies? It's win-win. (Win for the band, win for the GSA.) Of course, it would have to be a boy band, because if there were any girls in the band it would be weird. It would be like "Were you in Girl Scouts?" "Well, no, not exactly. . ." It would be as bad as if there was a woman in The Barenaked Ladies. I mean, I love their music, but I can only (barely) stomach their name because there are no ladies in the group.

Anyway, back to Girl Scout Cookies. My favorite of the cookies are those cookies formerly known as Samoas! So delicious! Chocolate dipped and striped shortbread with carmel and coconut. It just doesn't get any better. But I am here today to tell you that my favorite of all cookies has been renamed. These tasty creations are now labeled "Caramel DeLites."

Say what?!

What I want to know is, did the Girl Scouts of America change the cookie name of their own free will? Did they feel it would be, somehow, more politically correct? Because let me tell you, it's not great for advertising, if you ask me. Sure, Caramel DeLites gives you the hint that there is carmel in the cookies. But it also implies that fake sugars (the most heinous of a confectioners ingredients) could be present. Lite? as in low fat or low sugar? Yuk! Who wants a cookie like that!? No, no, no.

To call the cookies Samoas would be far better. True, this former name didn't tell potential consumers that carmel could be found in the cookies. But it did hint of tropical shores and an island nation known for excellent cooking. And coconuts!

Now, like I said, I don't know what prompted the switch. But if I were in charge of Samoa, I would write a letter. It would say something like, "Please, Girl Scouts, change the name of your best cookie back to Samoa. Their tasty goodness reflects so well upon our country. Your sales have increased our tourism and our tourism has increased your sales for years and years. Why can't we be friends?"

What do you think? What is your favorite girl scout cookie? Also, please vote on the toothpaste poll in the sidebar.

P.S. Whoa, Wikipedia tells me that I'm not alone in the choice of my favorite Girl Scout Cookie. Samoa/Caramel DeLites account for 25% of sales.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah what the heck.. a samoa is a samoa. and why should it be politically incorrect- they're not samoans. its like calling something a Denmark or a Ghana or a Canada. Box of Canada anyone?

Jenni said...

My favorite cookie was also the Samoa cookies-mmmyumm! That's interesting that they renamed them-just please tell me that they didn't put the fake sugars in it! I totally agree with you that the Lite in the name sort of implies that they might have done that. I sure hope not. The thin mints were my 2nd favorite.

Crys said...

My favorite cookies as well which is why we had our three boxes delivered today. From what I understand though the name switch was not politically motivated. They changed the baker they were working with this year and the original name had a copy right brand on it. Thus a new name was chosen. So the sinister plot was all about corporate branding ;)

Anonymous said...

The cookie name seems less important than taste.
Recently I have been unable to answer your polls because you simply do not give enough option categories to include my vote. So I need to know how much toothpaste you use and how often you are gonna swallow -- it is not just a matter of yuck but a matter of health, what kind of toothpaste is it? Does it contain floride and do you have water already treated with floride? But the frustrating thing is that if I do not vote then I do not get to see the results, so I want to respond and get to vote and see the results but it is an opinion poll after all and my opinion is just not in there so what do I do? Love Stuck Mom

Alysa Stewart said...

Yeah, so it looks like the name hasn't really been changed. It turns out there are two bakeries lisenced to make GSCookies. One does the descriptive names, the other the awesome names (i.e. Samoa).

Mom, I think there is a link that says "View results" below where you vote so that you can see without voting if you want. As to your other questions, I tried to answer them with the question by saying "You" instead of "I". So, I dunno, what do you brush with? What is your water treated with? And I'm thinking like a one swallow afterwards, every once in a while -- not habitually.