There have been a lot of food related items created to go along with the 'Ghostbusters'. From 'Real Ghostbusters' fruit snacks to Ecto-Cooler, we gourged ourselves on the sweetened contents of many a tie-in. This isn't counting the amount of Hardees we forced to down to get the associated kid's meal accessory when 'Ghostbusters II' was attached. We bought into it like crazy. As the years have gone by the food related Ghostbuster items have slowly disapperaed (we all knew that Shoutin' Orange Tangergreen was re-packaged Ecto-Cooler with
X-Entertainment proving it) but the 30th anniversity was ripe for at least one new product. Many believed that perhaps, feeding off the nostalgia of monster cereals coming back in full, that Hi-C could very well use the anniversary as vehicle to introduce Ecto-Cooler back into the aisles. Ultimately are savor came in the form of a fired dough ring.
Like many of you I'm sure when the news of Krispy Kreme releasing Ghostbusters doughnuts for the Halloween season I had what could only be described as a out-of-body experience that left my girlfriend worried that I was having a fit. When I assured her that I didn't taste metal and told her why I had stopped talking mid-sentence she gave me a look that could only be described as a combination of mild amusement and vague judgement. Don't get me wrong, she loves Ghostbusters like any other breathing human, but she has long had to deal with my obsession as it slowly creeps into our apartment and threatens to take-over. She knew right then that what this meant was that there could possibly be two to three dozen Ghostbuster doughnuts hanging around our kitchen for weeks. No one wants that many doughnuts just hanging around, laughing in your face. No one.
But how could I not give in? I'm a Krispy Kreme guy. My family is from the south, where Krispy Kreme glazeds are like a second religion (backwoods moonshine being the true faith). Don't get me wrong, any and every doughnut is good in my eyes. Dunkin' has Munchkins, there's a Doughnut King down the street from me, and one day I plan to make a pilgrimage to Voodoo Doughnut but I have a generational connection to Krispy Kreme. My father loves Krispy Kreme, his father loved Krispy Kreme, and so on and so forth (the tales of my rail thin grandfather having a mean addiction to warm glazed Krispy Kremes straight off the line is the stuff of legends). So anyway, I was psyched. The only problem was that I live in a Dunkin Donut stronghold and I had to trek out of my area to find them. I rose early fearful that there would be a run on the doughnut bank, assuming that everyone was as excited as me for Ghostbusters doughnuts. I pulled into the closest Krispy Kreme only to find that they have chosen today, GB doughnut day, to re-model their lobby. DAMNATION! I then quickly came to the conclusion that I would have to drive even further to be successful. But I was happy enough to do it. This is what Halloween was all about, going out of your way for spooky memories. I was also driving to get doughnuts, how upset could I be. I finally get to the second closest KK and had a moment to ponder if they even had them. What if this was one of those locations where they failed to get the memo or didn't want to participate in the fun. My worries disappeared (like a ghost, ha) when I walked through the door. This is what greeted me.
Slimer watching as glorious doughnuts pass by on the famous conveyor belt. I love whoever had this idea It works on so many levels. It instantly made me more excited to be there. But Slimer wasn't alone.
Stay-Puft was also overlooking the process. Once again, both stickers have the perfect eye line position to appear as if they are overlooking the Ford-like line making. I did have a moment of realization that these doughnuts are meant to be marshmallow creme filled, meaning that Stay-Puft must of...ehh, never mine. Better not to over think it.
I also noticed that they had various signs and hanging standes like this advertising what the doughnuts look like (if you had missed the advert) but it all seemed coporate mandated. All these signs and stickers were probably sent to every Krispy Kreme in the nation. What I found next made me realize that I had chosen the right location.
Nothing says enjoy the fresh made doughnuts like a menacing traveling god in thee form of a marshmallow man. This was the extra steep for me that said they care...
...that and the fact that they were playing the film in the lobby. That too.
So it finally came to the big moment. How many would I get. A lot of people were getting a solid dozen Gb doughnuts but I didn't want to do that. Spread it out I say. That and I was right in my earlier fear, there were not a whole lot of them left. The no-ghost logo doughnuts had a whole rack left but the Stay-Puft variety was looking pretty thin. In fact there were only two left. Unfortunately the woman in front of me had the same idea as me and grabbed up the last two. Undeterred, I waited patiently and asked the cashier if they had any of the Stay-Pufts in the back.
"Is that the one with the face?"
Yes, the one with the face.
A few minutes later I had my cool (ghoul) dozen. I left with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I was so excited that I took a photo of my treasure in my car while still in the parking lot.
I went with three no-ghost doughnuts, three Stay-Pufts, two pumpkin spice cakes, two pumpkin cheesecakes, and two glazed with Halloween sprinkles (I would normally be excited about the Halloween sprinkles but I just needed a filler this time). That right there is a thing of beauty. Fat-filled beauty.
Ok, now that went really in depth to how I got the doughnuts let me know get really in depth to the box. You see, Krispy Kreme has gone the extra step with their promotion and have designed a box to go with the doughnuts. These boxes are amazing.
The detail is phenomenal. What we have it the basic Krispy Kreme logo with the no-ghost log looming in the background. Slimer has also apparently come into to contact with the logo as it has ectoplasm residue. "Someone blows their nose and you want to pour it on your logo?" Yes.
The overall logo is also placed a background of tiny slime-covered dots on a black backgound. I know that this is close to what the normal Krispy Kreme box looks like but I still feel that it makes it all feel a little more spooky. Also yes, I will be framing this box art.
Other small features are the 30th anniversary logo,-
.-the "who you gonna call?" quote,-
-and a QR code. What? Oh yeah, this is part of the Krispy Kreme tracking...you know, just go online and vist the site. It explains it better on there then I can. It just looks cool slimed.
Here's a look again of the doughnut glory. All lined up pretty.
Just makes you think of fall right?
but there does seem to be some strange aura about them. Something...unearthly. Supernatural even. Here, let me get something-
Yep, there is a definite presence. The PKE is burying the needle. This is big, I can feel it. Something has attached itself to my doughnuts.
It's here, it's looking at my doughnuts. It's a ugly little spud isn't it (and don't care if it can hear me).
Gross, it looks like it already got to one of them...oh wait, that's just the frosting.
Let's focus on the no-ghost doughnut for a moment. Both are of the cream-filled varitety with a coating of white frosting on top. The no-ghost logo has the addition of green frosting to create a slime blob. I really like this feature, on mine especially. I've seen pictures on others and they are not as well crafted as the ones I bought. Slimer is slacking it seems.
The no-ghost logo adorned on top of thee doughnut is pure shaped sugar. I removed the ghost logo during the taste test to save for a later. The Stay-Puft doughnuts also have a sugar accessory in the form of his sailor hat. Speaking of Stay-Puft...
He is looking good.
Well, he's looking good in this photo. I've seen others photos online that many are getting malformed Stay-Pufts. I'm guessing that this depends on the individual locations and how they arrive at the store. As you can see in this photo he has the same white glaze but in lieu of the green slime we have a chocolate smile framed by a small sugar sailor's hat. All of my Stay-Pufts looked pretty decent. While I love Stay-Puft, especially when you consider that they're marshmallow flavored and seems the most appropriate, I really love the look of the no-ghost doughnuts. But looks don't mean bupkis in a fried dough fight. How do the taste?
I carefully choose my two specimens, not the best decorated but the most delicious looking. I then brewed myself a cup of strong coffee tucked in. First, some surgery...
I decided to cut them in twain and inspect thier content while saving their other half for a later date (I apologize for the sudden medical tone, but how can I not help it when I'm cutting Stay-Puft up).
The marshmallow creme (or cream) is rather light for being creme (or cream). It really works well with the overall doughiness. I'm not sure if you reader have experienced this doughiness when eating filled doughnuts. It seems like the absence of a hole makes the doughnuts far more bready. That's just bad thing, more bread is good, it just has a different texture.
Both doughnuts largely taste the same, which makes sense as they are probably the same actual doughnut. The one thing that makes the two stand apart is the addition of Stay-Puft's choclate facial features that adds a dimension to flavor profile. with that in mind I have to say that, taste wise, I prefer Stay-Puft. If I was to be critical I would have to say that both suffer for being excessively sweet. It would be hard to eat more than one doughnut, which to say is not generally a bad thing. Also, if left unattended for too long, they tend to becoming very sticky and seem to begin to melt at room temperature (I do live in Florida, that may be the factor in that). Final note: they do a great job of soaking up coffee and that earns big points for me.
Recall that small no-ghost logo I took off the doughnut. Yeah, I melted his ass in my coffee just to hear him scream. Just call my coffee mug the containment unit because I ain't afraid of no ghosts (wow, grammar murder).
Well, there it is. The Krispy Kreme Ghostbusters doughnuts are now a real thing in the pop culture stream, and while I wasn't able to get into the doughnut hole pail or the other doughnuts featured in this box I feel like I have explored these as far as I can without seeming excessive. The doughnuts are great. The marketing is great. Krispy Kreme's belief in the concept is legit and doesn't seem like a cheap ploy. My one real thorn in the side of things is the lack of variety. Figure that Krispy Kreme payed to license the Ghostbusters name to accomplish all this, with that in mind why would they not go crazy. What about the no-ghost doughnut having a green slime filling. What about a green Slimer glazed doughnut? How about chocolate cake terror dog with cinnamon candy eyes? If you're playing in this sandbox then build a castle.
Despite my tiny, insignificant gripes this is one of the most culturally significant things to have occurred in a long time. Krispy Kreme has taken a chance on this. It is a 30 year old franchise. I don't see a 'Gremlins' or a 'Temple of Doom' doughnut line being introduced anytime soon but they knew that 'Ghostbusters' is so strong a film that it would work. And why shouldn't it? It has been proven that something about Ghostbusters makes everyone a little kid, no matter the age. It's just fun. So strap on your packs and go catch some doughnuts before they disappear.
Join me next Thursday for another discussion of eating the Ghostbusters.
Till next time...stay sweet,
No comments:
Post a Comment