There is a perfect little turquoise, green and purple rainbow sneering at me from my kitchen counter -- two boxes of Trefoils, three boxes of Thin Mints and one box of Samoas. For those of us non-Asians, that's 2 + 3 + 1 = seven boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, minus the one box of Samoas that is sitting three-quarters empty in the passenger seat of my car. Seven! I bought seven boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year.
about the only cookie i can handle, trefoils
Every March, no matter how full my cookie jar already is, what "nutrition plan" (we don't use the "D" word around here anymore) I am on, or how much I am saving up for my next vacation, I seem to find myself with at least one box each of Samoas, Thin Mints, and Trefoils, but this year, I have seven boxes of Girl Scout Cookies.
I don't know how this happened because diet and budget aside, I don't even like Girl Scout Cookies.
Let's be honest with one another. Girl Scout Cookies taste about as good as the sloppy seconds from the Keebler elves, which makes the inflated $4/box price tag even more ridiculous. And yet, when the cookies hit the market, the entire world goes nuts. Perhaps that's why I allow myself to willingly participate -- the Girl Scout Cookie thing is an example of phenomenal sales and marketing.
wait, when did cafe cookies get in here?!?!
Selling cookies most certainly has changed since the days that I donned my kelly-green sash, plastered with merit-badges. That was long before Chalet Cremes were retired, back when peanut butter sandwich cookies were still called Do-Si-Dos, and Caramel De-Lites hadn’t even been born as Samoas. I woke up early every morning for two weeks. I pounded the pavement in my neighborhood. I went door to door before and after school. I had an ambitious quota of 50 boxes, and I met it. No, I exceeded it, because that's the kind of overachieving little businessgirl I was. I'm surprised I didn't hike up the retail price by 25% and offer a "discount." Maybe I did, but that's illegal, so maybe I didn't.
I never relied on my parents as my personal field sales force in their offices, but these days, it’s perfectly acceptable to use Mom or Dad as a cookie distributor, guilting their co-workers into bulk purchases. I’ve gotten those emails sent to everyone, not politely bcc'd, but strategically cc'd so that if you don't have a rainbow stack of boxes on your desk come March, you're the office a$hole who didn't support the CEO's daughter's troop.
Today, I'd be surprised if 50 boxes was even a modest goal. It’s almost like it would be an embarrassment to the troop if they didn’t sell 50 boxes a day. It’s made for some very enterprising young ladies, using every sly sales approach, every guerilla marketing tactic, filling up every sales channel. Innocent people, stopping at the market only to pick up a head of lettuce and a pack of gum, find themselves walking back to their cars, arms laden with boxes of cookies, stunned at what just hit them.
It’s a love-hate thing for the customer, really. People put their heads down and look the other way when they see that card table in front of the market with neat little stacks of cookie boxes. They roll their eyes and sink down behind their 22" flat-screen monitors when Bob-from-Accounting (but not Bob-from-IT; he's not married) saunters over to their cubicles with an order sheet and that expectant look in his eye. They don’t want to buy. Remember? Girl Scout Cookies don't taste good. Girl Scout Cookies are over-priced.
But why does it somehow turn into a buying frenzy? Like Turbo Tickle Me Elmo at Christmas time? Why? Why will there be two boxes of thin mints and a box of Trefoils in my freezer by the end of the week? Why will I secretly feel relieved that I have a stockpile of Samoas for...July?!?!
Proctor & Gamble could learn a lesson or two about branding, sales, and marketing from a gaggle of squealing little girls in green berets.
tags :: food : and drink : cookies : girl scout cookies : evil : los angeles
StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says
I have to laugh at this because you are right on the money. My daughter was a GS for 6 years. Every year at cookie time, I would cringe, because all the parents who worked at big companies would take the cookie sheets to work and strong arm their colleagues into buying hundreds of boxes. The poor kids like mine, whose parents ran small businesses were doomed to failure! You can't even get a cookie patch for less than 200 boxes! One year, I bought 50 boxes, just so my kid wouldn't feel so bad. It was ridiculous!
I still carry the guilt! Even though my daughter isn't a GS anymore, I still buy way too many cookies from all the neighborhood kids.
If you need a way to use up the Samoas, I came up with a great recipe for a Samoa Cream Cheese Tart. It is to die for!
http://stickygooeycreamychewy.blogspot.com/2008/02/thank-heaven-for-little-girlscouts.html
sarah says
sgcc: wow. just WOW. though i'm afraid what i really need is something to use up the thin mints, which i always *think** i can con myself into liking by eating a lot, but end up gacking on the first single bite. ew. i HATE thin mints.
StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says
Sarah- Here's one for you!
Mint Delight
1 pkg. of Thin Mint cookies (crushed)
3 tbsp. butter or margarine (melted)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) softened cream cheese
2 pkgs. (8 oz. size) instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk
4 cups whipped topping
Combine cookies with melted butter or margarine, (save ¼ cup of cookies for topping).
Press cookie mixture on bottom of 13” x 9” pan. Chill.
Combine cream cheese with 1 cup whipped topping. Spread over cookie mixture. Chill for 15 to 20minutes.
Prepare pudding with 3 cups of milk and pour over cream cheese mixture. Chill for 1 hour or until ready to serve.
Top with remaining whipped topping and Thin Mint cookie crumbs.
(Makes 10-12 servings).
michelle @ TNS says
okay, i hear you on the thin mints. but samoas are awesome! and the peanut butter ones, what are they called, tagalogs? so good. there are NO GIRL SCOUTS in my 'hood, and i would gladly take boxes of samoas off your hands.
the south pacific naming scheme always seemed a little weird to me, though.
michelle @ TNS says
okay, i hear you on the thin mints. but samoas are awesome! and the peanut butter ones, what are they called, tagalogs? so good. there are NO GIRL SCOUTS in my 'hood, and i would gladly take boxes of samoas off your hands.
the south pacific naming scheme always seemed a little weird to me, though.
Pink of Perfection says
When I caved and bought a box of samoas a couple of years ago, they were not as powerfully delicious as I remember. They just tasted like...preservatives. But in my memory they are the most delicious cookie of all time, so I've been hoping to make a homemade version that's less chemically.
Melanie says
I mostly agree with this - most of the GS cookies are pretty bad but I am so so so in love with samoas.
Also - where are these workplaces with the strong-arming GS parents? I actively wanted to buy some but had to go around, constantly pleading for information on where exactly I could buy my cookies this year. Now that I see them on every corner, I should have just known to wait. :) But, new location, I thought new rules went with it.
Mitzi! says
When I read this I thought:
1. WHAT?! She's CRAYzeee! and
2. Hm, I wonder what kind of cookies she eats.
I fell in love with Tag-a-longs first. They're almost like candy bars, like Twix! And everyone knows Twix are great, they even put two in there because they know you're going to want another one. As I got older and my palette became more refined, I moved on to Samoas and Thin Mints. Gourmet delicacies, they are not, but they are inexplicably "yummy" and rare. Are there any other companies that make cookies like Samoas or Tag-a-longs? If so, I'd like to try those!
Unfortunately for me, the Girl Scouts of America are making it very hard to give them my money. I have no Girl Scout cookie connections this year.
joanh says
hahah. i remember pounding the pavement.. it's quite brilliant- child labor for free.. my sis is sending me some in taipei. mmmmm
TaraMetBlog says
Your title mentions my three favorites! Somoas though are so filling one does it for me, the others...i can keep popping and popping. I just bought two boxes from a coworkers neice last week. *sigh*
Tara says
hmmm... I actually like girl scout cookies but maybe this is bc there was at least a 10 yr break between having them? But totally see the point about parents being the salesforce for this...
I personally enjoy the thin mints as they bring back memories from Girl Scount camp where we made thin mint smores- simple and yummy!
sarah j. gim says
sgcc: did you just make that recipe up? because if you did, WE'RE NOT WORTHY.
michelle @ tns: i think at some point, they were called coconut delites. but using "lite" in the name is so so misleading. those little girls would probably get their asses sued.
sarah mccoll: yes,and they live a weird aftertaste that doesn't rinse out even after brushing your teeth.
melanie:you'd think they'd sell that ish online. they would basically OWN. hm, maybe next year i should buy a TON and sell them on eBay
mitzi: you know why i can't buy tagalongs? (those are the peanut butter patties, right?) because i peel out the peanut butter disk, leave it on the counter, and only eat the cookie part. it felt so wasteful. of course, buying seven boxes of which half will eventually end up in the trash isn't wasteful at all. no, not at all.
joanh: and i bet they won't even be broken or cracked. that's how, uh - strong? - those things are.
tarametblog: i think i could actually put away an entire box of trefoils.
tara: hm...thin mint smores. now you've got me thinking...
hermz says
How about I eat your leftover pb disks, sandwiched between thin mints? @__@