The End of Hostess

Last night, I was watching The Daily Show when a story came on about the Hostess factory finally closing. Apparently, the company filed for bankruptcy and is now shutting down completely. I first heard about the story a few weeks go, and I must admit that I was shocked. While I am not personally a fan of Twinkies or Wonder Bread (in fact, I kind of despise them both), I could not believe that Hostess was actually shutting down after being such a popular brand of snack cakes and desserts for a larger part of the twentieth century. It seems like every time I go to the grocery store or any convenience mart, there is inevitably a large section full of Hostess products. I always thought that someone must be buying them. According to the Daily Show segment, the main impetus for the brand shutting down is a very large employee strike and poor corprate organization. That being said, another reason listed was that Moms aren't buying them like they used to. Of course, the show made a joke about how news anchors are blaming mothers for Hostess closing, but I actually think there is a real point there. In class, we've discussed the current food movement and whether or not it is a social movement. I am on the side that believes it absolutely is, and I think the closing of the Hostess company is the latest evidence to support this fact. People are becoming more educated about health and nutrition and what foods should absolutely be avoided if you want to be a reasonably healthy person. At the same time, corporations are strategically navigating this movement by making more and more natural/organic products with health claims and marketing that convinces mothers that THIS is what you should be buying for your kids, not THOSE. Hostess products, on the other hand, are doomed to the "THOSE" category by virtue of their ingredients and how processed and artificial they are. While many consumers may be fooled into thinking that certain brands of cookies and cereals and crackers are better for you than they really are, no one is ever going to think that a Twinkie is healthy. And as a result, people stopped buying them as often as they used to, inevitably contributing to the closing of the company. I predict that we will continue to see this pattern - of "health food" sales rising and "junk food" sales falling. Fortunately for Americans, I think this can only be a good thing for our overall well-being.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-november-27-2012/the-employees-strike-back---twinkie-s-end