nosh nook #124 - thursday, september 3, 2009

why disney's delicious snack cakes don't threaten marvel's golden eggs (link)
09.02.09 - npr - by glen weldon

ooh! snack cakes as a analogy! that's so cool! i mean, it's no onomatopoeia or metaphor or anything, but is there anything snack cakes can't do? i mean, i knew that they could pop a wheelie & that they can quote every line from the big lebowski & that they're really good at playing one of those guitars with two necks, but their versatility just astounds me sometimes.

way to go glen wolden. you're a funny guy. disney as tastykakes & marvel as the eggs that go into those tastykakes. it's clever. here's the "the tastykake analogy" in a nutshell. "think of disney as tastykake, the venerable philadelphia-based makers of snack foods." "marvel? is an egg farm." disney's doing fine for themselves with the muppet & pixar egg farms, but it can't hurt to have the marvel one too. they need tons of eggs to make their "fluffy sweet rich chocolatey packets o'deliciousness." they know marvel makes good eggs, so as long as they get their eggs & can keep churning out tastykakes, there's no reason for them to get involved with the egg business.

...or something like that. glen, i really hope that you're right. i really hope that "it's not about the comics." that allows those worried about disney negatively affecting the quality of marvel's comics to sleep better. i agree that disney won't likely mess with marvel much, but i don't know current marvel stuff enough to know if they did anyhow. what i'm worried about is the fact that disney bought such a huge company & that makes them even bigger. they were already the largest media/entertainment company in the world, with $62 billion in assets as of last year. now they're even bigger. market competition's the thing to look at here. tastykakes are fine & all, but i like to be able to eat little debbies every once in a while too.

nosh nook #61 - monday, june 8, 2009

ohio state team takes 'buzz lightyear' snack idea to anaheim (link)
06.07.09 - north texas e-news - by ohio state university

to infinity and beyond, bitches! if you're like me & know next to nothing about the toy story movies, those five words (bitches not included) will make it seem like you actually do. it's the catch phrase of toy story hero buzz lightyear, so it's a perfect conversation starter for when you have to talk to children! also, you should use the word "woody" a lot. there's a woody in toy story.

anyway, so as this north texas e-news article (written by ohio state university...each student contributed a letter!) says, five grad students from ohio state's department of food science & technology in the college of food, agricultural & environmental sciences (say that five times fast!) have come up with an awesome buzz lightyear-themed snack, just in time for the next toy story movie & buzz lightyear ride. dubbed the "buzz lightyear star command snack," it's "star- and moon-shaped crackers with peanut-butter banana and chocolate dipping sauces--in a disposable wristband container."

with these snacks, you not only get to pretend you're a cartoon toy, but you get half a serving of fruits & veggies and a half serving of whole grains.  for the buckeyes who came up with these munchables as part of a product development competition, they have the opportunity to win "$2,500, a disney trophy and a VIP tour of disneyland park."  i hear that the disneyland VIP tour gets you access to disney's underground lair, where they conduct their twisted experiments.  that's the sweetest treat of all.