Super Sonic

Last month my husband visited South Carolina on a business trip and thoughtfully brought me back a cup from drive-in burger joint Sonic (we don't have one near us) featuring tater tot mascot Totty. I'm actually impressed he recognized this as food with eyes. To me it looks like a piece of shag carpeting rather than a tater tot. I probably would not have recognized it as such if it were not for Brandon of the Waffle Whiffer Zone posting a Totty bag on flickr.

Here's one side:


And the other:

And a flattened out scan:

Totty doesn't seem to be featured on their web site, but check out Tater Taunt for a somewhat less friendly version.

Mr. Pizz-Ahh!

For some reason I forgot to post this before, but last summer we got a flyer for a new pizza place in town. Now the last thing the town I live in needs is yet another pizza place, but this one caught my eye because of their great mascot, Mr. Pizz-Ahh!:


At my insistence, we went to check it out. After seeing the pizza available, it seemed Mr. Pizz-Ughh! had replaced Mr. Pizz-Ahh! so we actually didn't stay. But I did snap a picture of their delivery van:

I think he's one of the better mascots I've seen lately. And I love that his feet are subs (or hoagies as I prefer to call them). Perhaps we'll give him another try someday.

Food Friends

Once again my sister Maria of Curly Wurly has outdone herself in the anthropomorphic food gift department! I haven't even finished profiling the birthday presents I received from her this year, and now there are Christmas presents to share!

First is this wonderful oven mitt from Paperchase featuring their adorable "Food Friends" design. Here's one side:

And the other:

Just look at all those smiling faces!

Next is a useful and super-cute folding tote bag. Here it is in its tiny pouch:


And unfolded:

A close-up of the pattern:

It's hard to decide which Food Friend is my favorite! I like the ice cream cone a lot, and the pizza slice. And the scallion. And the watermelon. And the pineapple...

There is also a set of stickers featuring all the characters, but I'm going to save them for National Sticker Month (April). Thank you, Maria!

Ketch Update

Regular readers may recall last year's post about the Heinz Ketchup Creativity Contest which solicited drawings from school kids to appear on ketchup packets. On a recent trip to Five Guys (Burgers and Fries) I was fortunate enough to come across some other winners!

Here's one by Melissa R., a 5th grader from Queens, NY. A ketchup rock star crowd surfs over his French fry fans:

Here's a cute one from Kerri S., an 8th grader from Washington, PA:

And here's a caped catsup crusader by 3rd grader Julie K. of North Olmsted, OH:

Be sure the check out the Winners' Gallery for more great designs. It's worth noting that the proportion of anthropomorphic drawings has increased each year. It's hard to know if that reflects a change in the submissions or the tastes of the judges. At any rate, I think more food with eyes is always better! This year promises an even more exciting contest with the grand prize winner being featured on an actual ketchup bottle! Kids, get your crayons ready!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

Here's a video to get you in the mood for holiday baking! This is a 1935 Disney Silly Symphonies short called "The Cookie Carnival":

Courtesy of Meeelis on YouTube.

I don't remember ever seeing this one before. I think it has just won the "Best thing I've Seen on YouTube So Far" award. Enjoy!

Hostess with the Mostest?

I've been enjoying Waffle Whiffer's recent blog and Flickr posts about Hostess Cakes and their delightful mascots, particularly Fruit Pie the Magician. (If you haven't seen them, go there now!)While I remember Twinkie the Kid growing up, I have to admit that I don't have any memories of Fruit Pie the Magician. I got to wondering about this, and I think I know why. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, the snack cake market was (and is) dominated by Philadelphia-based Tastykake. While we occasionally ate Twinkies or Drake's Cakes' Devil Dogs or Yodels, mostly we ate Tastykake's Krimpets, Kandy Kakes, and their fruit pies (pineapple cheese is the best!).

I have a few Tastykake items that came from my grandfather's grocery store including this great 2-sided hang tag:


And this ruler:


Tastykake has a great font and a catchy jingle ("Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake..."), but it is severely lacking in the mascot department - at least until now. Browsing the Tastykake website, I found that they seem to have a new mascot, Kirbee Krimpet!

Here's a plush Kirbee:

And here's Kirbee on a tin (full of Krimpets, naturally):

Kirbee seems to be Butterscotch Krimpet, not a Jelly Krimpet, which I generally prefer, but I don't mind. A YouTube search turned up a recent commercial featuring Kirbee and the Phillies Phanatic:

Courtesy of CircleOneMarketing1 on YouTube

Kirbee hasn't made his way onto the packaging yet, but who knows?