http://finance.yahoo.com/news/judge-asks-hostess-mediate-union-203749038.html
As you all have recently heard, the Hostess company has filed for bankruptcy and demand for Hostess products such as Ding Dongs, Ho-Hos and the legendary Twinkie has skyrocketed within the last week. The Hostess brand, but more importantly, the Twinkie itself, is an American icon that embodies the the New Frontier. The mascot, Twinkie the Kid is portrayed as a rugged "frontiers kid "that is ready to take on the new world with his soft spongy cake exterior and sweet creamy filling. Just like America and its ambition of manifest destiny and spreading from East to West. Also like the Marlboro Man embodying the essential ruggedness of a frontiersman, Twinkie the kid embodies the playful youth of a frontiers child, and the innocence of the growing America. The death of the hostess brand not only marks the end of a creamed filled snacks that laid the foundation for our childhood, but more importantly the image of the New Frontier to children.
While the Twinkie icon may represent the "frontier," as you say, i believe that the idea of the frontier is still accessible to children in America. For example, Toy Story features "Woody" and Disneyland still has a "frontier land." The idea is still very fresh and vividly displayed, despite how modernized America is becoming. Yes it's sad that Twinkies are no longer on the market (R.I.P.), but does this signify the end of the rugged frontiersman for our generation and generations to come? Cowboys and the frontier are timeless trademarks of American culture that aren't disappearing anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteSomething that you didn't mention is how Twinkies and other Hostess Products represent consumer culture. The Hostess Company itself can even be seen as a part of American Exceptionalism, in that it created a product that only Americans identify with. Now that the ideology of being healthy is promoted, this part of the American identity is disappearing. This proves that the concept of "America" is a social construct, as it changes over time.
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