Doug Murray - Senior Year?

[jeh25]

Tom Lento wrote:

Twinkies used to taste great back in the day because you were a kid then.  I'm convinced that the flavor of Twinkies hasn't changed a lick since my Dad was a kid, except that they've been getting progressively more stale.  In fact, I'm convinced that the current twinkies were made in the same batch as the ones that were sold when my Dad was a kid.   ::nut::

Well, you can be convinced of that all you like, but you would be wrong.

The twinkie has been reformulated many many times to reduce cost over the years. In fact, the twinkie is now something like 50 % less dense than they once were given that air is the cheapest ingredient you can find. (I once had a boss during an internship that told me: "First you sell air. If you can't sell air, then sell water. And if you can't sell water, then sell salt.")

This reformulation problem is what occurs when cost-reduction, rather than innovation drives product development.  Imagine you use you use your currently shipping product as the golden standard. Now you tell the product developers to shave the cost a little. They come up with a new test formulation, and send them off to be taste tested. Since the PD guys did a good job, the taste test fails to show any statistically significant difference between the golden standard and the reformulated product. Invariably, some marketing weenie will tell the VP that the new formulation "tastes the same" and the new product will be launched.  Now fast-forward 3 years,  and imagine that a new junior VP decides he'll get a promotion by increasing profits by reducing cost. Therefore, he instructs the PD guys to reformulate the product and test it against the shipping product.  Once again, the reformulated product fails to show any statistically significant difference and the new formulation is launched. One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to see that after a few more cycles, a 6th generation twinkie will be nothing like a 1st generation twinkie even though each generation "passed" the taste test.

And hence, twinkies suck and children like Susan will never enjoy the creamy spongy goodness of an old school twinkie.

(I'm convinced that Little Debbie golden cremes have suffered from the same problem to some degree, but to a far lesser extent. Thus, when I get my once a year twinkie craving, I reach for a golden creme instead.)

[Susan Newman 08]

wow...I guess living in the age of technology doesnt exactly pay then:`(

[tml5]

Ok, now that is too much useless information, even for me.   ::nut::

[Greg Berge]

Is the original Twinkie formula patented forever-and-ever, or can somebody release the original Twinkie as a direct competitor to the 6th Generation Bastard Stepchild Twinkie, win market share, get rich, and save Susan's childhood?

(If somebody found a perfectly preserved 30 year old Twinkie, which after all shouldn't be too hard, could they "reverse Engineer" it?)

[jeh25]

Well, I imagine that the original formula would be a trade secret, and thus never expire.

However, there is a website that claims to have a recipe you can make at home that is supposed to taste just like the original twinkies did.  I guess you could make little tiny loaves and inject a filling of your choice and save Susan's childhood in the process.

http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/twinkie.htm

Or you could just buy Little Debbie Golden Cremes.....

[Rob]

As someone who works in the patent field, I can tell you that Trade secrets are not protected at all. If you find out a trade secret of a rival and patent it, you can use the patent against them. So if you find the recipe for original twinkies and start making them Hostess cant stop you in any way shape or form. Well unless you are stupid enough to call them Twinkies but then thats a trademark issue.

[CowbellGuy]

Damn you all. Now I have a ferocious Twinkie craving... :-(

[Josh '99]

Come on Beeeej, correct his grammar, you know you want to.  :-P

[ugarte]

Of course how you come by those trade secrets matters as well:

Reverse engineering? :-)

Former employee with confidentiality clause in her contract? :-(

[Susan Newman 08]

wow, all this to save my childhood...and i'll be in college in two years. You better hurry up.;-)

[Al DeFlorio]

If Arthur Andersen is your auditor, you can get away with just about anything. ::nut::

[Greg Berge]

Don't worry.  Childhood now extends until at least 25 for most people.

[jeh25]

or 35 in Greg's case:-))

[Greg Berge]

Hell no, John -- my ETA's 50, at the very earliest.

[Ben Doyle 03]

sweet. . .:-P