Thursday, February 19, 2009

God prefers cheap cookies

Posted by Charles Ferruzza on Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 12:38 PM

resized_cheap_cookies_thumb_200x300_thumb_200x300.jpg

When I was a kid, my mother -- one of the world's biggest snobs -- wouldn't dream of buying a product that wasn't a name brand. If it wasn't advertised on television or on the pages of one of her glossy magazines, the product (laundry soap, snack cakes, pickles, even paper towels) was suspect, not to be trusted. That snobbery even extended to "house brands," like the A&P chain's Ann Page or Jane Parker products. Even when she learned that the companies which manufactured her favorite "brand name" products also made the private label stuff for the bigger supermarket chains, she'd have none of it.

Marketing experts would tell you that my mother had, like many shoppers of the 1950s and '60s, developed brand loyalty: she had her favorite brands and she wouldn't buy anything else.

In today's economy, a lot of shoppers (like me, for example) are loyal to our wallets and reach for the cheapest products first. The price was the first thing that attracted me to this box of caramel coconut cookies I found at omne of those discount dollar stores. Only after I marveled at the price did I notice the quasi-religious brand name. Heavenly Rewards? If the name didn't give me reason to pause, the logo -- a golden angelic halo -- certainly did. Were these cookies manufactured by a Christian bakery?

That's a question that still requires an answer. The name of the manufacturer of Heavenly Rewards isn't listed on the box under the all-important warning:"This product is manufactured on equipment that processes products containing peanuts." Only the company that distributes the cookie -- the Family Dollar stores -- is credited on the box.

Heavenly Rewards is one of the private labels for the North Carolina-based Family Dollar chain. The cookie brand is licensed to the chain by the supplier. 

I'll confess my sin, brothers and sisters: I ate the contents of the whole box in one sitting. They were tasty enough, but not a religious experience.

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They taste just like samoas, omg im in LOVE!!!

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Posted by Elizabeth on 09/10/2010 at 4:14 PM

My coworkers and I are eating them right now. We are about to finish the box even though we just found out the box is expired by one year...They still taste great!!!

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Posted by DeJiLa on 03/06/2010 at 3:54 PM

I think you're absolutely right, Lauren and Erick! I found the "thin mint" cookies a couple of weeks ago and thought I was in Michael Jackson Heaven. But after being able to eat just half the box I realized I was only in Girl Scout Heaven. Oh well, when I find the caramel delights and PB fudge cookies, I might make it! In a nutshell, these things are awesome and I'm now on a mission (not from Hell:)

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Posted by Beth on 02/15/2010 at 6:33 PM

I love these I am looking to find out who really makes these but am I the only one that thinks these cookies are exactly the same taste and look of the famous girl scout cookies I think there the same

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Posted by erick on 11/19/2009 at 7:37 PM

Okay, first of all.... the cookies are incredible, I just found them 2 weeks ago. I've now had the coconut cookies, fudge mint cookies and the fudge with peanut butter... OMG they are just like girl scout cookies but cheaper and you can get them all year round!!! I love them!

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Posted by Lauren on 10/02/2009 at 11:37 AM

Man, I ate 5000 Boxes in 1 hour!
I need to watch myself, YOW!

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Posted by Michael Jackson on 03/31/2009 at 4:40 PM

These are probably the best cookies ever. I had to make a cookie run the other day to stock up. No one does it better. I also can eat a box in one sitting. I have to watch myself.

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Posted by Gayle on 03/31/2009 at 8:17 AM

Hahaha I did the same thing! An entire box in one sitting!

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Posted by Brittany Ralph on 03/17/2009 at 5:28 AM
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