The Munchies

Today we're kicking off a look at some classic mascots. Since for some reason candy and chocolate bars don't have too many we'll also be looking at a few other tasty treats. Today we've got a Canadian classic, the Munchies.

Who are the Munchies? Well they were the long running mascots of Hostess potato chips here in Canada.  According to the wiki the chips were the #1 chips sold in Canada through the 80s, and I'd certainly believe that having lived here through the 80s, but once the 90s kicked in and upscale chips like Kettle Chips and Miss Vickis came around they couldn't compete. In '96 Hostess re-branded all of their chips as Lays here in Canada.

What got me thinking about this though was walking through my local grocery store and coming across what is apparently a limited run of Hostess branded chips. Are they testing the waters for a brand comeback? Here's a look at the chips and a glimpse of the current version of The Munchies.

Yup, those little guys are The Munchies, and boy do they get up to some shenanigans. In the commercials from the 80s they were always animated, often portrayed as celebrity superstars. Sometimes rocking out in a band. Yes they even play instruments.... I think there may have been a  little Chipmunks influence there.

Check out the rest of the current product line and you can see these crazy Munchies up to all sorts of silliness.

Are they still superstars, or just chefs? I suppose its a bit moot since they're only on the limited run, but I know I would love to see these guys come back in full force. Don't people want this kind of stuff? I think they do.

Their tagline was "When you've got the Munchies nothing else will do: Hostess Potato Chips" and you've got to see some of their commercials.

This next one is actually one of my absolute favorites.

And finally here's a last ad that is SO TOTALLY 80s you've got to love it.

As you can tell, totally awesome! I always loved seeing these little Hostess goblins (or whatever they are) on my chips and my tv. Here's hoping Pepsico makes a move to bring them back!

We'll look at another mascot next week here on the Candy Aisle so please stay tuned :)

Old Ads snacks

Welcome to another look at some fun old advertisements for candy that I came across while browsing my comic collection. Today I'm going a bit off track of tradition here on Walking the Candy Aisle, as we look at a few snacks. While technically these probably aren't in the candy aisle in every store. You'll certainly find all of these treats nearby the candy aisle, and their advertisements are great.

First up today is Hostess with a double ad for Cupcakes and Twinkies!

 Hostess snacks are great. Too bad I was never ever allowed to eat them when I was a kid. After deliciously describing these treats the ad asks us to "Ask mom... she knows!" Well my mom certainly didn't. Not to pout, but really that kind of stinks. Did you guys get Twinkies growing up???

Anyhow, apparently these cakes are SO good that it even brings rival baseball teams together over their awesomeness, although why they both have their gloves on is beyond me. Which team is at bat if they're both in the field? Any why the heck don't they take the gloves off to eat the Hostess cakes?! did they just catch them in a popfly? If that's the case I can understand their looks of wonder and amazement. Either that, or they're wondering who took that bite out of their delicious treats...

As for the baseball cards, well that's pretty cool. Apparently Hostess produced a couple of these sets of baseball cards over the years. With 150 cards, that's (do the obvious math now) 50 boxes of twinkies to buy... seems like an awful lot, but complete sets of this run are going on ebay for between $200 and $300 dollars, so I guess it was worth it to whatever obsessive kids could manage it. Even if I had been allowed Twinkies I don't think I would've been able to get all those cards though...

Onto an ad for Cracker Jack.

Well this just proves it, people love baseball. Even I could tell that despite growing up in Canada even with the hockey fanatics.  This is definitely a fun little story about Scottie the Cracker Jack winning the big game. I'm glad the coach believes in him, even if he has his doubts. Thank goodness Scottie didn't strike out, that would really make for a depressing advertisement... It'd probably be pretty funny though. I guess this is little league or something but I have to point out the lack of helmets. It was a different time then. As for the Cracker Jacks themselves, well I've always been a fan. These days given the choice I'd probably go for Poppycock instead but Cracker jack was always fun as a kid, and the prizes we're pretty fun. I mean not like Kinder egg fun, or like they used to be back in the 50s and 60s fun, but the prizes we're at least something. Now I think when you get a Cracker Jack box you're lucky if you get anything more entertaining than a Bozooka Joe comic.

This next ad for Slim Jims is just for quick fun. I always loved Slim Jim, but didn't remember any advertising for it before Macho Man came on board. It's nice to see they had an actual campaign with a through line fighting the Horrible Hungries before Randy Savage joined up. I also had no idea they came in 6 different flavors (mild, spicy, pizza, bacon, salami, and peperoni). And finally I have to agree with the tag here: "A little less than a meal, a little more than a snack." Nice.


Finally  I;ve got a couple of cookie ads. The first is another game ad, this time from Oreo.

As you know I love advertising that gives me a game as well. This time its an Oreo decoder puzzle.... Wait a sec. around the cookie 5 times?! That's too much. What do I look like I've got all day here? Ok, ok... I know as a kid I would've been all over wasting my time doing this. But with an answer key right there I just can't bring myself to actually put in all that work. Yes I love Oreo, but that dedication only goes so far.

Back in the day it seemed like Oreo and Chips Ahoy! we're the only game in town when it came to store bought cookies. At least they were the only ones marketed to kids. I remember how excited I got when double stuff Oreos we're announced. Even though we didn't usually have Oreos around the house you can't be a child of the 80s and not remember the advertising. It was as heartwarming as Coca cola, with the fun of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

My only question about the ad, who's glove is that???

The final ad for you today is another 'cookie-like' product, its Fig Netwon.

 As you may have expected I am a fan of Fig Newton, I'm also a fan of treasure maps. It seemed like a staple of cereal commercials that at some point Lucky, or Trix, or Toucan Sam would have to navigate their way through a treasure map to the goal of delicious cereal and I'm glad to see it carried over to Fig Newton. Question for those playing along at home... is a Fig Newton a cookie? I never thought so myself but I've heard others call it one. I see on the ad itself they call it a cookie, but its certainly non-traditional if it is one. Whats your take on it?

As for the ad I really enjoy it. There's is so much fun imagery here, I like the idea of a world with fig forests, and newton mountains. Probably not somewhere I'd like to live permanently. but it'd be a pretty fun place to visit. It does seem a bit odd that a pirate is hiding Fig Newton treasure in a land literally made of Fig Newtons.... couldn't he just get more wherever he went? Ah well... It doesn't really matter, the ad is still brilliant.

These ads we're pulled from Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #11, What If...? #41, Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #11 again, Web of Spider-Man #2, and Web of Spider-Man #1 respectively. Next week I've got the conclusion to our look at some bubble gum ads. It should be fun!