Of Course The Twinkie Will Never Die (It’s About to Get a Major Makeover)
The Twinkie is back—which, kind of makes sense, considering it’s shelf stable for about a million years. Hostess Brands, the Twinkie parent company that filed for bankruptcy in 2012 (and in 2009) is now the charge of Metropoulos & Co., best known for reviving the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand of not-at-all-good beer.
According to Bloomberg, Metropoulos & Co., “made a killing on Pabst,” netting a profit of more than $450 million just four years after acquiring the beer now synonymous with hipster culture.
“Sales climbed steadily as the new owners cultivated the brand’s aura, sponsoring concerts and burlesque festivals and selling PBR trucker hats and jackets,” reports Bloomberg. “That deft marketing helped transform the light lager into the brew of choice for millions of young image-conscious American beer drinkers.”
While beer may never go out of fashion (if there is a God) —even as brands and beer styles ebb and flow across America’s pubs–keeping junk food like the Twinkie in the spotlight is another matter.
“It’s a risky bet,” says Bloomberg, as the processed, overly sweetened sponge cake is the opposite of the current trend in food—including baked goods—which favors healthy, local, and handmade. And it’s our current obsession with healthy foods that may just work in Metropoulos & Co’s favor to bring back the Twinkie’s iconic status.
As major food manufacturers and fast-food restaurants scramble to meet the growing demand for healthier options—McDonald’s offers kale salads now—giving in to these moribund temptations, like the Twinkie, offer consumers a little bit of balance, if you can call it that.
After all, who doesn’t have a soft spongy spot for the underdog? And when that underdog is a guilty pleasure probably all wrapped up in childhood memories, it may mean big success for the Twinkie.
“Hostess has incredible brand power,” William Toler, the chief executive officer of Hostess said on a conference call with Bloomberg. “It has an amazing emotional connection with consumers.”
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Twinkie image via Shutterstock
