I mostly stopped caring about comic books at about age 14, but even I took notice in 1992 when DC Comics announced “The Death of Superman.” How could you not?
Of course, it turned out to be a gimmick; Supie was brought back to life somehow, after I was no longer paying attention. I thought of that when I contemplated the news about Unilever snuffing out the Choco Taco.
Unilever made the announcement about the ice-cream confection in mid-July, saying that it needed to concentrate on production of more popular products within its Klondike line of novelties. It brought an anguished online reaction, with fans bemoaning the loss of a novelty that is truly novel.
“What would I do for a Klondike bar?” one commenter wrote, referring to the question posed by ads for the line’s signature square, no-stick ice-cream bar. “Nothing. The chocolate gets all over your fingers. Choco Tacos are much better.”
The backlash got so bad – supposedly – that Unilever briefly teased that it was thinking of keeping Choco Taco around after all, saying that it was “exploring options to bring it back.”
The Klondike Twitter feed seemed to shoot down that notion, with a July 28 tweet depicting a Choco Taco holding a press conference and declaring that “I want to address the rumors: I’m really being discontinued, it’s not a PR stunt.” We’ll see. If the Choco Taco does end up coming back, maybe it will in response to overwhelming demand – or maybe it was all a cynical ploy in the first place.
Whichever it is, at least it can only happen once. I don’t think DC has tried killing off Superman again.
HELP US CHOOSE THE GREEN PLANT OF THE YEAR
Help choose the most sustainable food or beverage plant of the past year or two in Food Processing's Green Plant of the Year poll. This year, we have three nominees: Flowers Foods' Lynchburg, Va., bakery; Tyson Foods' Joslin, Ill., beef complex; and Vital Farms' egg facility in Springfield, Mo. Read their persuasive essays and vote for your fave through Aug. 29. The plant with the most votes wins and will be profiled in our October issue.
Pan Demetrakakes is a Senior Editor for Food Processing and has been a business journalist since 1992, mostly covering various aspects of the food production and supply chain, including processing, packaging, distribution and retailing. Learn more about him or contact him
