As George informed us, Hostess Brands (maker of Twinkies, Wonderbread, Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs, and all sorts of other artery-clogging baked products)
is now filing for bankruptcy and liquidation of its assets. Although this is second time in last decade that Hostess has filed for bankruptcy,
there is still hope for the company. A bankruptcy court in White Plains, New York ruled that Hostess would first have to try mediation talks with its labor unions. These talks are scheduled to start tomorrow; however in the event that no compromise is reached, the liquidation hearing will resume on Wednesday. Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn commented that the company is losing about $1 million a day to keep afloat; as a result Hostess is under financial pressure to resolve its financial difficulties soon.
Despite the media's attempt to enlighten us regarding Twinkies' unnaturally long shelf life and lack of nutritional value, Twinkie sales surged after Hostess's bankruptcy was declared as consumers tried to stock up on the product. Yup, even the media can't overcome 80 years of Twinkie's status as a cultural icon. By the way, if you're worried about not having access to Twinkies ever again, worry not. You can buy a box on Ebay at the starting bid of $200,000. Or you could wait until another company inevitably buys out Hostess and starts fattening America up all over again.
5 comments:
However under appreciated Twinkies may be to our informed and health conscious society, this event raises the interesting question: what is the shelf life of cultural icons?
It seems like in the case of Hostess, it's products cannot live on forever after the companies bankruptcy. While Twinkies are probably not dear to our hearts, other products, becoming similarly antiquated in cultural and economic shifts, may be more meaningful and in danger. Not to be overly prophet-of-doom-like, but these types of company closures can definitely be one of the unfortunate costs of hard economic times.
I disagree with Wyatt that the failure of companies like Hostess is an "unfortunate cost" of hard economic times. These trying times force Americans to truly decide where their values are and, the bankruptcy of Hostess shows that, junk food has been left out. If consumers no longer want a product then it is no longer "dear to our hearts." The difficult economic circumstances of Americans are creating a new cultural identity, and, it looks like, a healthier one.
Hopefully nobody will actually bid on that $200,000 box of Twinkies, as the Hostess branded baked goods are still available
in Canada, as Saputo Inc. is a separate entity from the troubled Hostess Brands in America. To answer Wyatt's question, I feel that the shelf life of cultural icons expires when society evolves for the product to no longer be coveted and bought for its heritage value; everything has its expiration date and it seems like the date for Hostess in America is looming near. If negotiations between labor unions and Hostess fall flat, I also think that it is very likely that a close competitor of equally nutrition-less junk food will buy out the line of Hostess baked goods to gain a bigger advantage towards a monopoly in a time of certain decreasing market share.
I agree with both David and Alvin. Americans appear to be moving towards a far more health-conscious era, especially with an increasing amount of attention on organic foods. A company like Hostess that sells extremely unhealthy foods simply seems to no longer be a "cultural icon" that Americans care for. However, I do think that despite the fact that Americans have generally moved on from products like Hostess, the company and its infamously fattening treats have more retention in our hearts and a longer "shelf life" than we may think. With headlines about Hostess's bankruptcy, people reminisce about the tasty dessert and suddenly have the urge to go buy some, clearing out stores and even apparently bidding $200,000 for a box (which is ridiculous). Therefore, I do agree that the shelf life of Hostess and similar products has expired, but Twinkies are holding on to our hearts by a thin thread just like Hostess is financially.
I agree with Allison, I think that it is great that Hostess went out of business. I think that turning America towards more health conscious and Eco-friendly state is fantastic. I think that the shelf life of a company is interesting and I think that people are willing to bid $200,000 because they think that it is a rare commodity now. I think that this whole thing is extremely overblown and that it is great that a company that probably hurt its customers more than helped is going out of business.
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