I never liked the fruit pies, but I loved just about everything else made by Hostess. I'm going to start hoarding Twinkies while I can. Sad to say, despite the fact that they last forever... they're not going to last very long in my pantry...
Pretty soon people are going to be roaming the country looking for the last Twinkies just like Woody Harrelson in Zombieland!
As for the comic book ads, I don't know if I can pick a favorite... they're all so amazingly bizarre. Though the Thor one where the space hillbillies is pretty close to the top of my list. And that one where the lady blows out the Human Torch's flame with a giant hair dryer.
Mark my words-- some other company will come in to buy up these brands (after capitalizing on the outpouring of nostalgia going on right now); get rid of the union labor, move production overseas, start having children make Twinkies out of sawdust and lead, and put them back on the market.
Sorry.
Um. . . I always liked that Frut Pie is a magician. I wish he was in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If there were no laws, I would do a comic that was like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for kids marketing characters. And Fruit Pie would be front and center.
I always liked that Frut Pie is a magician. I wish he was in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If there were no laws, I would do a comic that was like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for kids marketing characters. And Fruit Pie would be front and center.
All the kids from the Tootsie Pop wrapper could be like his Baker Street Irregulars.
Aren't there enough Hostess mascots to form their own team? The United Hostess League or whatever? Fruitpie the Magician, Twinkie the Kid, Captain Cupcake... I forget the Ho-Ho character... some kind of Robin Hood analogue...
Mark my words-- some other company will come in to buy up these brands (after capitalizing on the outpouring of nostalgia going on right now); get rid of the union labor, move production overseas, start having children make Twinkies out of sawdust and lead, and put them back on the market.
Sorry.
Um. . . I always liked that Frut Pie is a magician. I wish he was in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If there were no laws, I would do a comic that was like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for kids marketing characters. And Fruit Pie would be front and center.
I thought twinkies were already made out of sawdust and lead
@David_D is right...some other company will buy the Hostess assets and Twinkies will be on the shelves again.
I feel bad for the 18,000 workers. They listened to their over reaching union bosses and lost. The national union fat cats will keep their jobs, the owners of Hostess will make a killing in the sale, and only the workers get screwed...as usual.
So let me get this right? I live in the uk, so not up with this story. Hostess is going into liquidation? Which means unless someone comes in and buys the rights to twinkies, ho ho's, snow balls etc... Then twinkies et al wil be no more???
That would be a real shame. Whenever I go on holiday to the states I always make sure to get some twinkies. I love those little things! I also make sure to drink snapple and bud light (not at the same time though) and get Take 5's and loads and loads of jerky. But that's another conversation.
@David_D is right...some other company will buy the Hostess assets and Twinkies will be on the shelves again.
I feel bad for the 18,000 workers. They listened to their over reaching union bosses and lost. The national union fat cats will keep their jobs, the owners of Hostess will make a killing in the sale, and only the workers get screwed...as usual.
I don't blame the union -- I blame the company and its CEOs. The union was just trying to look out for its members. They were fighting to hold on to what they already had by turning down a contract that would have cut wages (by 8%) and benefits, and were looking to get some wage increases. The Teamsters Union blames a lot of Hostess' problems on mismanagement by company executives (who gave themselves an 80% raise last year).
However, I should also note that the Teamsters were very critical of the Baker's Union for pressing so hard at this particular time when the company's operating and financial problems were so severe. So it would seem that the unions involved weren't all on the same page about the strike after all.
@David_D is right...some other company will buy the Hostess assets and Twinkies will be on the shelves again.
I feel bad for the 18,000 workers. They listened to their over reaching union bosses and lost. The national union fat cats will keep their jobs, the owners of Hostess will make a killing in the sale, and only the workers get screwed...as usual.
I don't blame the union -- I blame the company and its CEOs. The union was just trying to look out for its members. They were fighting to hold on to what they already had by turning down a contract that would have cut wages (by 8%) and benefits, and were looking to get some wage increases. The Teamsters Union blames a lot of Hostess' problems on mismanagement by company executives (who gave themselves an 80% raise last year).
However, I should also note that the Teamsters were very critical of the Baker's Union for pressing so hard at this particular time when the company's operating and financial problems were so severe. So it would seem that the unions involved weren't all on the same page about the strike after all.
I don't know your job situation but I'm a third generation member of the United Steel Workers union. I bring that up because I've been through my share of contracts, concessions, strikes, lock outs, etc. I'm not anti union and I don't think the company is blameless but unions don't just look out for their members. There is a game being played in this country between companies and fat cat union bosses with the workers caught in the middle. Contracts can't be brought to the workers to vote and no call to strike can be made without the national union signing off on it first. These big shots tell the local union presidents what to tell their members to do. In the steel industry entire mines have been shut down simply because the national USW wanted to see how far they could push it. In the end they don't care because they, like the CEOs they fight against, are millionaires and will not be hurting if a company shuts down. In fact it's an example to say, "Hey, we're not afraid to put you out of business so you better give us what we want." I'm sure the next company like Hostess will keep that in mind when they negotiate with their union...it just took 18,000 jobs to make the point.
I've worked some 13 years in foundries without the benefit of a union (and we didn't need them) and I worked several years in a corrugated box plant where I was a member of a union (and it was very much needed there!), which, I guess, would actually make me a third generation union member as well (though I'm no longer a member due to change of jobs and residence), so I'm not a stranger to what goes on in plants or in the unions. I've worked an awful lot of jobs in my lifetime for that matter, and have heard an awful lot of back room stories about what goes on when unions are involved and what happens when they're not involved. And I've also been in the situation of having one plant sold out from under us, and the new owners squeezed the union into docility by threatening to close the plant altogether rather than sign any contract with them. Strong-arming and underhandedness runs on both sides of the divide. So I'll still give the benefit of the doubt to the union everytime, because, no matter what else, they are still far more likely to be involved in working for my interests than the company will ever be.
I just don't see the situation at Hostess the same way you do: from what I've been able to read about the situation, it seems pretty clear that the company itself is at fault for its problems (which, admittedly, was complicated by outside problems, such as trying to sell sugar-filled snack cakes in an increasingly health-concerned market) and the workers were simply struggling to maintain a working wage. Rather than comply and risk losing any further profit for the executives, the company decided to spite everybody and pull the plug. I find the company at fault here, not the union.
The one article I read on the topic said that the company had $2.4B in gross revenue. The union pension costs alone were $100M. That's not sustainable. The union apparetnly did sign some kind of an agreement that would drop that to $25M, but maybe that's what the bakers had a problem with.
I never ate Hostess stuff, but I did love the ads!
I think the bakers had a problem with taking another 8% wage cut, as well as some benefits cut, right after the company executives just got finished giving themselves 80% pay raises. I saw a list printed of the execs and their salaries -- we're talking about hundreds of thousands per year -- per exec. If they needed to cut some fat, I know where they should have started.
Aren't there enough Hostess mascots to form their own team? The United Hostess League or whatever? Fruitpie the Magician, Twinkie the Kid, Captain Cupcake... I forget the Ho-Ho character... some kind of Robin Hood analogue...
Happy Ho-Ho! I remember now! (Seriously, how could I have ever forgotten a name like that?)
Comments
I'm organizing books anyways, so I'm going to get as many of those ads scanned as I can. I always liked the ads with the Hulk.
As for the comic book ads, I don't know if I can pick a favorite... they're all so amazingly bizarre. Though the Thor one where the space hillbillies is pretty close to the top of my list. And that one where the lady blows out the Human Torch's flame with a giant hair dryer.
Sorry.
Um. . . I always liked that Frut Pie is a magician. I wish he was in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If there were no laws, I would do a comic that was like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for kids marketing characters. And Fruit Pie would be front and center.
I feel bad for the 18,000 workers. They listened to their over reaching union bosses and lost. The national union fat cats will keep their jobs, the owners of Hostess will make a killing in the sale, and only the workers get screwed...as usual.
I wonder if the original art from the comic ads will sky rocket now.
That would be a real shame. Whenever I go on holiday to the states I always make sure to get some twinkies. I love those little things! I also make sure to drink snapple and bud light (not at the same time though) and get Take 5's and loads and loads of jerky. But that's another conversation.
However, I should also note that the Teamsters were very critical of the Baker's Union for pressing so hard at this particular time when the company's operating and financial problems were so severe. So it would seem that the unions involved weren't all on the same page about the strike after all.
But unlike Mr. Wensleydale's cheese shop, it did indeed have a large stock of jerky.
I just don't see the situation at Hostess the same way you do: from what I've been able to read about the situation, it seems pretty clear that the company itself is at fault for its problems (which, admittedly, was complicated by outside problems, such as trying to sell sugar-filled snack cakes in an increasingly health-concerned market) and the workers were simply struggling to maintain a working wage. Rather than comply and risk losing any further profit for the executives, the company decided to spite everybody and pull the plug. I find the company at fault here, not the union.
We must never forget. :((
I never ate Hostess stuff, but I did love the ads!
And that's what she said.
It did.