Friday, June 11, 2010

Children of the 90s is Still Out of Town: Enjoy this Classic Post--Dunkaroos

Sorry for freaking out my loyal readers earlier this week--some anonymously evil spambot hacked into my account and Google, in their infinite if mildly misguided wisdom, temporarily suspended it. Luckily, I was able to convince them that I was not the spambot but rather its innocent blog-writing victim, so the site is back in all of its original glory. Thanks, Google!

I am still out of town, but with the site back up and running I will return in full force with new posts next week. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy this delicious frosting-accompanied post on Dunkaroos. It's the second post that appeared on the site back in March 2009, so the likelihood of you having already read it is relatively slim. Enjoy, and thanks to all for your patience and concern during the blog removal scare. I promise I wouldn't abandon you without warning like that --you need your daily dose of 90s, and Children of the 90s is here to deliver.



Ah, Dunkaroos. That is, a dual-chamber compartmentalized plastic snack container housing kangaroo-shaped cookies and sweet, sweet frosting. The marketing department at Betty Crocker clearly took a pretty literal approach with their concise yet didactic slogan: "You Don't Just Eat...You Dunk-a-Roo!" And Roos we did dunk. In fact, we dunked to with such zeal and fervor that a web search for "Dunkaroos" leads you to forum after forum where passionate Dunkaroo devotees discuss and debate the various black-market methods of procuring bootleg snacks from their 90s childhoods.

Yes, those were simpler times. These days, the current fanaticism surrounding this simple cookie-and-frosting snacktime combo impels Dunkaroo enthusiasts to scour amazon.com and discount stores to locate these discountinued delights. Whether chocolate, vanilla, or the late-era cookies and cream flavor struck your fancy, these were a kid's dream. Imagine, a conveniently packaged snack featuring absolutely no natural ingredients and negligible nutritional value.

For some inexplicable reason, this cookie-and-frosting combo was paired with a sharp-dressed and surprisingly formal Australian Kangaroo mascot sporting a hat, vest, and tie. You have to wonder what that marketing meeting was like:

"Alright team, we've got these cookies with a frosting dip. What's the logical leap for our big ad campaign launch? I say we go the Australian angle, you know how those Aussies love their prepackaged frosting-laden snacks. Better yet, let's make it a kangaroo with an Australian accent. That's more appropriate, really. And can we dress him up a bit? Let's be real here people, a kangaroo wouldn't just go about eating sweets bareheaded sporting shirtsleeves. That's it, a hat and tie will really emphasize the deliciousness."

Exhibit A:



Ahh...there's nothing like a half-sung, half-spoken painfully literal description of a snack food to get the hunger juices flowing.

Mascot aside (because let's be real, most of our childhood foods were actively promoted by randomly generated anthropormorphic cartoon rabbits, cavemen, leprechauns, and their ilk), Dunkaroos were a phenomenon. These were the food to pull out at snack time. Your cheap handi-snack knockoff cookies-and-cream pack were essentially an affront to the valid cookie and frosting snack community.

The most bizarre part was, at the height of their popularity, the Dunkaroos people launched a contest to replace their loveable if oddly matched mascot, Sydney, with...wait for it...another kangaroo. I know they're called Dunkaroos, but really. The parameters of this contest, endearingly titled the "Dunk-a-Roos Kangaroo Kanga-Who Search," essentially requested from their loyal fans the most incremental image change possible. I present to you, Duncan, the dunkin' daredevil. Like all other cartoon food mascots, the majority of his life is devoted to being thwarted by obstacles in an attempt to eat a food that the rest of us can just pick up in our neighborhood grocery store.



So there you have it...Dunkaroos. As their then new bad-boy mascot (as denoted by presence of backwards cap) rides into the abyss on a roaring motorcycle, so too must we leave behind this delicious snack from days of yore in a cloud of cookie dust. That is, unless you're willing to risk life and limb by ordering discontinued snack food on amazon.com for purely nostalgic reasons.

According to my google search, most of you are willing to take that risk. Dunk safely, children of the 90s. Dunk safely.

14 comments:

Cait said...

Ohhhh I just got a taste of that frosting in my mouth when I read this...I used to skip the cookies and dip my finger in the frosting to eat it!

Kristie said...

I loved these. I buy Teddy Grahams in the Chocolately Chip flavor and still dip them in icing sometimes. :)

Anonymous said...

Uhhh I wish they still made these. So good! I think my kids would love them.

Trevor Trudeau said...

I haven't seen it for myself yet, but I've heard that some Dollar General stores still sell these. I'm going to have to check it out sometime!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow I used to love these! They do still sell them at some Dollar General stores, including the one near my university; I was so excited when I saw them! I just had to buy some :)

Tiffany said...

They have them at the Dollar Generals where I live too! I bought a box last week!!!!

Jamie said...

We live in Australia.

I've never had Dunkaroos, but our kids had them for the first time last week. Their grandmother brought a box down when she visited. I think they were just a vanilla biscuit with chocolate sauce.

I don't remember them being popular here in Australia when I was a child of the 90s. Neither does my husband. :)

That ad! What a laugh! A British accent, passing itself off as Australian. And saying 'Aussie' like it has 's's in the middle (as Americans seem to), rather than how Australians really pronounce it, which is 'ozzie'.

Our kids loved the ad. Made me play it twice!

Lana said...

I'm from Australia too and I remember them in primary school, so there were here from at least 1994-1996.

I never remember seeing the tv ad for it but here they had Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry frosting.

I loved the Vanilla the most followed by Strawberry. :)

Sarah Wilson said...

As much as there are discouragements, it is true that mathematics is hard. Like in my case, I was never discouraged by anyone about math but I still find it very hard and that is why I am requesting your Math assignment help. I am tired of struggling with mathematics and spending sleepless nights trying to solve sums that I still don’t get right. Having gone through your Math homework help, I am sure that I will get the right help through you. Please tell me what I need to be able to hire you.

Visit:https://www.mathsassignmenthelp.com/

Hanna Bell said...

Hello. Please check the task I have just sent and reply as soon as possible. I want an adjustment assignment done within a period of one week. I have worked with an Accounting Homework Help tutor from your team and therefore I know it’s possible to complete it within that period. Let me know the cost so that I can settle it now as your Accounting Assignment Help experts work on it.
Visit:https://www.accountingassignmenthelper.com/

سما كلين said...

هناك العديد من الآفات أو الآفات التي تسبب ضررًا كبيرًا للإنسان والحيوان ، وهذه الآفات أو الآفات تدخل الثمار خلال فترة النمو وتضع البيض في زراعة الفاكهة الحديثة ، حيث تتغذى هذه الآفات على الفاكهة ، وتستمر في زراعة عصير الطعام من الفاكهة. ينمو بشكل طبيعي مع الفاكهة ويسبب العديد من المشاكل السلبية عند تناول الفاكهة والبشر أو الحيوانات ويمكن أن يتسبب ذلك في العديد من المشاكل الصحية والعديد من المشاكل الغذائية ، كما يكون له تأثير سلبي على المحاصيل ، وتنتشر العدوى من الفاكهة إلى الفاكهة الأخرى ، مما يجعل المزارعين يأتون اقتصاديًا. مشاكل ومشاكل سلبية وخسائر فادحة.

شركة سما كلين لمكافحة الحشرات

Spacebar counter said...

The tool records every press of your spacebar. Thus, you can calculate how many times you press the space button in a minute. Recently, spacebar hitting competitions started in TikTok. This contest started by some TikTok users is turning into a growing trend.
Space bar counter

Hope James said...

Exceptional, engaging, and effective! This is what sums up the gamification solutions of Acadecraft!
The gamification designs that the company offers enable better user engagement and memory retention. Reach out at info@acadecraft.com for 24/7 services.
Also Read: SCORM Compliant Learning Management System

ge said...

VEGUS168S LINE ID

Digg This!