A trip down memory back alley
Today, whilst buying a nice fresh baguette to fo with my leftover Scouse for lunch, I finally succumbed to the retro craze that's sweeping the nation. There they were; in a gently familiar, yet totally alien display case on the counter, urging me to just pick one up and relive a brief yet euphoric moment of childhood thought lost forever to the ravages of time.....
That's right. The humble Wispa.
I went back to the office, ate my lunch, then settled down with the chocolate equivilent of a big old box of photos. I unwrapped the packaging that had obviously been carefully engineered to have that nasty matt sheen that they used to have and yet still be the 2008 Health and Safety Approved foil underneath, noticed how they seemed to have made it larger so that it appeared the size it did when you were twelve, and bit into it.
And do you know? It was a bit rubbish.
Thing is, I then went on to remember that frankly, they were pretty rubbish when they came out too. It was chocolate bar that someone had made a cock up of so that it was all melty and rippled. A bit like what happens to Dairy Milk when it's been melted on the ledge of the car then resolidified within the packaging.
In short, I had fallen hook line and sinker for the marketing and ended up buying a product that I didn't even particularly like back in the day, never mind this 2008 recreation of it. I was ashamed, and disappointed in the chocolate bar, but also myself. I purged my palate with some Arran Chocolate company stuff that a colleague brought in. That helped.
So, a cautionary tale folks. Before buying the recreated Wispa. Think back. Think hard. Was it ever really that good in the first place? I mean, if they're going to bring back a chocolate bar from my childhood, they should really bring back Fry's Five Centres. Or maybe not. Perhaps that'd be crushingly disappointing too.
That's right. The humble Wispa.
I went back to the office, ate my lunch, then settled down with the chocolate equivilent of a big old box of photos. I unwrapped the packaging that had obviously been carefully engineered to have that nasty matt sheen that they used to have and yet still be the 2008 Health and Safety Approved foil underneath, noticed how they seemed to have made it larger so that it appeared the size it did when you were twelve, and bit into it.
And do you know? It was a bit rubbish.
Thing is, I then went on to remember that frankly, they were pretty rubbish when they came out too. It was chocolate bar that someone had made a cock up of so that it was all melty and rippled. A bit like what happens to Dairy Milk when it's been melted on the ledge of the car then resolidified within the packaging.
In short, I had fallen hook line and sinker for the marketing and ended up buying a product that I didn't even particularly like back in the day, never mind this 2008 recreation of it. I was ashamed, and disappointed in the chocolate bar, but also myself. I purged my palate with some Arran Chocolate company stuff that a colleague brought in. That helped.
So, a cautionary tale folks. Before buying the recreated Wispa. Think back. Think hard. Was it ever really that good in the first place? I mean, if they're going to bring back a chocolate bar from my childhood, they should really bring back Fry's Five Centres. Or maybe not. Perhaps that'd be crushingly disappointing too.