Sunday, December 3, 2006

The New Daily Snowman


To inaugurate the "NEW" Daily Snowman, we'll start off with a discussion of new things. You know how sometimes Hershey's new chocolates are labeled as "NEW"? I got to wondering how long each product is considered to be "NEW". So, naturally, I emailed Hershey's to ask them this very question. Here is the text of my email:

I noticed that some new Hershey's products are labeled as "NEW". For how long does a product continue to bear the distinction of "NEW"? Pretty much every product is newer than Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar, which was introduced in 1900 (and sold for only five cents each!). When does a product cease being "NEW"?
Hershey's, apparently, didn't drop everything else they might be doing to answer my question,
so I submitted a similar question to Entenmann's:

I noticed that some new Entenmann's products are labeled as "NEW". For how long does a product continue to bear the distinction of "NEW"? Pretty much every product is newer than the Rich Frosted Chocolate Dipped Donut, introduced in 1972 . When does a product cease being "NEW"?
Entenmann's declined to comment. But I did learn that the Rich Frosted Chocolate Dipped Donut, introduced in 1972, has been the company's best selling product since its introduction. That, and they use a whole lotta chocolate. So I got that going for me.

About a week later I received a suspicious looking email with this subject line: REF NUMBER: 005181759A. Someone named Cindy Skinner, apparently some type of Consumer Representative for Hershey Consumer Relations, according to her email had this to say:
Thank you for contacting The Hershey Company.

When a product is labeled a Limited Edition, Hershey only manufactures a certain amount which is shipped out to the retailers. When the supply is gone, retailers can not reorder the product.

This email address is restricted for outgoing messages only. For that reason, please do not respond to this email as the inbox is not monitored.

We appreciate your loyalty as a consumer.


Now, I've read this message numerous times and fail to see any connection to my question. At least they appreciate my loyalty as a consumer. Definitely more than Entenmann's does. The comments section is a good place to brainstorm about what Cindy Skinner was thinking when she sent me this response.

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