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NBR .. Oh Suzie Q !!!!

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Started 6 months ago by BuffaloHawk
Latest reply from gracie

BuffaloHawk

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Time to stock up on Twinkies to sell in a few years on E-bay since they have a immortal life span.

http://news.msn.com/us/hostess-may-close-down-for-good-if-workers-do-not-return-by-thursday

Workers at Hostess plants across the country had gone on strike or refused to cross picket lines on November 9 to protest pay cuts that Hostess had in bankruptcy court won the right to impose. That prompted the company at the time to raise the specter of liquidation in case of a widespread strike.

On Wednesday, Hostess said that if enough striking workers did not return to work by 5 p.m. ET the next day, the company would on Friday ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York, who oversees its Chapter 11 reorganization, for permission to shut down and sell assets.

"We simply do not have the financial resources to survive an ongoing national strike," Hostess Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn said in a statement.

Posted 6 months ago #
VeganBiker

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BH - I hope you are not feeding this to your little one!:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38872091/ns/today-food/t/ingredients-twinkie-eaters-ingest/#.UKRA66rfuU0

Nasty stuff, basically whipped up pigs fat with a bunch of chemicals added.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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No .. I remember when I was a kid always getting the fruit pies but would never give that crap to her. I don't think I have had any of there snack products in years.

Posted 6 months ago #
teigyr

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That's wise. Go on strike and lead to the demise of both your job and the company.

Yet another reason I am anti-union :)

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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Unions possess an appetite that cannot be satiated anymore.

They will cannibalize, and then demand more.

Europe is in lock-down, good for them. We've yet to learn their lesson.

Posted 6 months ago #
racerX

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teigyr, and (can't believe I'm saying it) 1ndr1 + 1

Posted 6 months ago #
Corvus

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I suspect there may be more to the story than just labor costs. It certainly doesn't help that Hostess is synonymous with products that have an eternal shelf life, products that we may have eaten as kid but which have never crossed our children's lips.

I don't believe that the 'media' is the patsy for either the conservatives or liberals; I think it is more accurate to say the opposite. So, the latest media bandwagon is the rash of 'I told you so' stories that are making headlines everyday. So-and-so laid off X number of workers because Romney lost. This story smacks of the same sensationalism to me.

For a little more in depth story one could look here...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204124204577151211961572458.html

It isn't too hard to imagine a scenario where a group of workers were angling to purchase the liquidated assets through their local union chapter. And why not after having worked at the same bakery for however many years. It has happened before.

Posted 6 months ago #
Ernie

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Come on, union workers are to blame?? How about the company's products are complete and utter crap, that no one in their right mind would want to buy, let alone eat.

Years ago I used to work near the Hostess bakery in SLU (we called it the Denny Regrade back then) and when they were cooking whatever gawd awful crap the made there, it made the whole neighborhood smell like shit.

Twinkies are played out....RIP.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWdCKPtnYE

Posted 6 months ago #
Ernie

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Maybe my post last night was a little harsh, perhaps a touch of PUI..... :)

Anyway, If anyone out there likes eating Twinkies, please accept my apologies, and condolences.

Posted 6 months ago #
teigyr

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I actually like snowballs. I am one of the few, I know :)

This is what I don't get about some union workers. Either the money is there, or it isn't. If it isn't, then striking won't fix that. If it's there and you feel the pay is unjust, go find a different job. The sense of entitlement astounds me. I'm union, as some people know. I am forever looking for a way out and those I know who have made it out, are much happier. Imagine merit pay! And being treated as an individual instead of a hire date. I think unions tend to foster a divisive work environment between companies and workers which I feel isn't healthy for either side.

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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I used to get a double snowball pack from the vending machine and a chocolate milkshake at least a couple days of the week at jr high school, I wasn't much into the mystery meat adaptations that were being served...

I doesn't explain my over 6', under 180lbs presence, fwiw. I blame rock and roll.

As far as Hostess goes, I won't miss it, but will indeed blame lousy contracts with a union that couldn't care less about a survival option for a business.

It's 'forward'.

lmfao.

Posted 6 months ago #
teigyr

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I'd say Hostess probably didn't "adapt" well, though. Part of that would include the new regime of We Must Eat Healthy Meals (I'm bitter that people/government seems to think they know better than me what I should eat) and part of that would include downsizing. I'll miss it and I'll blame the union along with a nation that is inherently lazy (ie not tempering junk food with eating home cooked healthier options) and unable to control its collective appetite. Oh let's also throw in parents who are too busy to cook for their kids so it's fast food every night. Oh and kids who don't play outside because they are too busy with video games.

There. All bases covered and poor Hostess has to bear the brunt of it.

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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Hostess and Wonder are products from a bygone era. At their best, they represented homogenization and benefits of scale. There was a time when the country wanted this, now we don't.

FWIW - When I was a boy, we used to pass by a wonder bread plant on the way to downtown. One time we drove by and this giant truck was parked by the plant. It was a big semi for hauling fluids, like the big rigs that haul gas. It was there to pump lard into the factory, but that afternoon the hose came loose and lard spilled all over the street. Massive amounts of lard just everywhere.

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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The owners/shareholders and employees all lose.

If only we would learn something for it.

I've seen zero evidence of it, and that is the greater loss.

I bet Gai's Bakery is next, locally, fwiw. Traditionally all union, and all the day old outlets in the world can't save them either.

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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Speaking of day old outlets, I recall in my early teens I bought a box of Twinkies from an "outlet" for a dollar and found they were the perfect size for throwing at people. It seems to me they could have expanded their product line if they made Twinkies that were explosive as well as edible. Kind of like a hand grenade. I mean, in addition to being edible and lasting for 500 years, it would be totally awsome if they blew up too. It would be the perfect weapon/food during a zombie apocalypse.

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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Twinkies are quite explosive, you just don't know how/why.

Which suits me fine.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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They are also bouncy ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyBZE0kBtE

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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How do did you blow them up? And please post this on Utube!

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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lol...and no...

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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Speaking of Suzie Q, I once dated a woman who had been a child actor who appeared in commercials for Zingers, but those were made by Dolly Madison.

I call her the Holocaust Girl for reasons I won't go into here.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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I think you should barter the Holocaust Girl story with oneder for the video.

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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I'd much rather see a twinkie blow up, than my heart!

Posted 6 months ago #
Corvus

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Since I didn't make my point earlier, I'll try it again. Hostess has been failing for many years now and Edog put it best - they are from a "bygone era". When large businesses fail there is tremendous pressure to place blame and typically it is spread around pretty well between management, bean counters, and labor. One that is often missed and seems pretty apparent in this case is that the product just doesn't sell any more. When that happens, the job of the union is to make sure the liquidated assets are distributed evenly. I don't see a problem with that.

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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" they are from a "bygone era". "

so, you'll be cashing in your chips soon.

The job of any union should be keeping it, imbecile, not liquidating it.

But, I've talked before about the golden goose, you either wait for an egg or dine on the goose. It isn't rocket science.

Unions, and imbeciles, decided long ago to slaughter every goose.

Bone appetit.

Posted 6 months ago #
Corvus

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Humans are likely to experience more than one era even if the products they grow up with do not survive to the next, so no, I won't be "cashing in my chips" just because hostess is now of a bygone era.

The golden goose and it's egg are myths. Real life decisions for union members and nonmembers alike often involve 'what is the best path forward'. Sometimes that means doing what is best for the company and sometimes not. As an advocate of personal freedom, I would think that would be elementary to you, but you seem more willing to toss around words like "imbecile" which is pretty typical or you and your ilk.

Posted 6 months ago #
angeline

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It is a shame Hostess has not been able to keep up with the times. We should have been seeing Hostess granola bars on the shelves next to Cliff and Quaker, or really any sort of repositioning. I read about their woes -- looks like they tried ONCE to break into the whole grain breads market. Duh! Look at the bread aisle and notice how many "with whole grain" options there are next to the few all-white choices left. They could even have left the products unchanged but advertised them as "part of a healthy diet" alongside a whole grain sandwich and an apple. This is a crock, of course, but a similar strategy is working for Nutella! Admittedly I don't watch children's TV but I do read a number of those "womens magazines" and I can't recall any advertising from Hostess at all over the last 5-8 years.

I agree their core product is a thing of the past but that is really no excuse for the company failing with all that means to their workers (& retirees!), the communities they do business in, their vendors who will be left with unpaid debts. Management at Hostess has failed in a big way and I don't really see what role their union contracts played in the failure. Did union bakers refuse to add fiber to Twinkies?

Posted 6 months ago #
boatgeek

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The strike probably contributed to Hostess' demise, but it's also worth mentioning that they were in bankruptcy already, had had 6 changes of leadership in the last 10 years, and the owners had refused to invest in new equipment. That sounds like a company already a long way down the tube.

Posted 6 months ago #
Walt

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I agree, union troubles were only one nail in their coffin. Changing times, unchanging menu.

I seldom eat a Twinkie but now I really want one.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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This is interesting .. fwiw

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/snack-giant-hostess-shuttering-us-business-but-canada-unaffected/article5365001/

Two Canadian companies that own the rights to some of U.S. bakery giant Hostess Brands Inc.’s products say the looming shutdown of the company won’t have any impact on their operations.

George Weston Ltd. owns the rights to Wonder Bread in Canada, while Saputo Inc. has the rights to the Hostess snack cake name.The shutdown of Hostess in the U.S. will have no effect whatsoever on the Wonder Bread brand in Canada, said Geoffrey Wilson, senior vice-president for investor relations.

“We have the rights for Canada,” he said.

“It’s a very good seller. It’s a very important brand to us and we continue to invest in it.”

“We own the Hostess brand in Canada. There is no impact on us,” said Lionel Ettedgui, president of the bakery division at Montreal-based Saputo Inc.

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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You know, if you watch Canadian TV, there are certain contemporary commercials that feel like they are right out of mid 1980s. I mean, not only the products but the presentation. I don't mention that to say that Canada is behind the US, only as an observation that there seems to be things that still work there, that don't work here.

As far as saving hostess or redirecting it in the US, I don't think that can be done. It carrys such a solid and mature meaning to all of the U.S., that its very logo on product that might sell well given todays preferences, would fail. I mean, what do Hostess and Wonder say to you? These both conjure up powerful images for all of us, I don't think that can be undone. I could see someone like proctor and gamble or coke a'cola buying the rights to the name, and selling an occasional novelty product every few years, but this icon is not a church anyone prays at anymore.

Posted 6 months ago #
great idea

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"what do Hostess and Wonder say to you? "

wonderfulone says lots of mean things to me.

I guess I could call him oneder bread from now on.

Posted 6 months ago #
great idea

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"but this icon is not a church anyone prays at anymore. "

as opposed to Little Debbie, still going strong from the adventists!

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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I always got a kick out of the Jack Link's - Messin' with Sasquatch commercials when watching NHL Hockey on a Canadian channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJF0cuYbYyI

Posted 6 months ago #
Edog

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Re Little Debbie, do they still make those things?

Re Wonderfulone might be meaner than white bread, but he is just as soft and squishy as loaf made from lard!

Posted 6 months ago #
great idea

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my friend's dad drove a Little Debbie truck when I was growing up.

they're still going strong as far as I know:
http://www.littledebbie.com/

we used to have contests as kids to see if you could eat a piece of oneder bread in a minute w/o drinking anything. it was impossible and I almost choked trying.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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Speaking of Canadians

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtn-wKfqvnQ

Posted 6 months ago #
onederfullone

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At least we don't need to worry about 1000's, and 1000's of union bakers blaming anyone but...never mind.

Clearly it's not their fault they got fat and stupid.

btw, if I was a Teamster that took 8% less last year to keep my job, I'd be even more pissed at fat and stupid local #wuteva.

Just in case I didn't say fat and stupid enough times yet, for you very very slow and cave-headed union apologists...

They got fat and stupid. Period. And everyone suffers.

Posted 6 months ago #
eric

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speaking of fat and stupid.....

not to be cruel, but on the seattle times site there's a thick-necked woman with boxes and boxes of hostess products. now THAT is American! its not the end of days, folks.

Posted 6 months ago #
teigyr

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My mother never bought Wonderbread but my friends mother did. I LOVED that stuff. I'd take the crust off and roll it into a big ball and eat it that way. I might get some Sno Balls today too. Mmmmmmm.....if you peel off the marshmallow coating it's just like a little Sno Ball autopsy, always reminds me of the face being peeled off. Yes, I do play with my food.

Posted 6 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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Ernie .. haHa I saw that and thought of the 5 pound block of cheese lady.

teigyr - "Here comes the choo choo train" ;)

Posted 6 months ago #
MidWest

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Sure, blame the workers, who happen to be unionized, for the f*ckups of sh*tty management:

From the article:

"So to blame Hostess's collapse on the union workers fighting to keep their pensions, rather than on the mismanagement of the highly paid executives at the top, would be a stupid argument".

Yup.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/16/management-not-unions-to-blame-for-twinkie-bakers-demise

http://www.thestand.org/2012/11/union-blame-failed-management-at-hostess/

Yeah, managers never f*ck up. It's always the workers.

Never any other reason than "fat" and "stupid" workers for the ills of a poorly led brand that never bothered to update itself for the changing world.

Posted 6 months ago #
Corvus

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1. The U.S. citizenry is now more readily associated with "fat and stupid" not only by a large part of the rest of the world, but even by a large part of it's own citizens - a la Eric's " thick-necked woman with boxes and boxes of hostess products. now THAT is American!"

2. The conservative (term used loosely) Republican / Tea Party line is that this is largely due to the influence of Unions which have made the citizenry fat and lazy and dependent upon entitlements.

3. The areas of this country most receptive of this message, and the citizens therein, are the citizens most likely to fit Eric's description.

4. Why aren't hostess products flying off the shelf?

5. The original tea party was a well organized politically motivated union of local landholders and business men who enticed labor to rail against remote corporate and state control. The very idea of 'Union' embodies the spirit of the United States of America. The common man will gather and rise against the established power and demand equal access to the resources which create wealth and enable well being.

6. Why do blowhard teaparty republicans who live in rental basements, play in bad cover bands, and have the intellect of a croquet mallet rail so hard against unions? Are they patsies? Are they un-american? Are they incapable of thinking for themselves? Did Lord Rush come down from the heights of Mount Premiere and fill their poor empty heads with misremembered misinformation?

7. Or did they just become fat and stupid and all too willing to let others fight for them - entitled to the hard fought gains for common men and women which Americans are famous the world over for winning?

8. Good questions.

9. When a tool says "imbecile" remember to laugh because the devil can't abide mockery.

Posted 6 months ago #
Corvus

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10. The Hostess Twinkie may soon be the Bimbo Twinkie. That is almost too perfect for words.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/17/15245611-mexican-company-bimbo-may-be-eyeing-twinkies?lite

Posted 6 months ago #
great idea

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the Bimbo bakery company sponsors a few soccer teams.

I always chuckle when a tall striker with long blond hair advances the ball with his 'Bimbo' jersey.

Posted 6 months ago #
angeline

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Just read that the Hostess CEO and 9 top execs gave themselves raises of 60-300% at the same time they were trying to reduce bakers' wages by 9% (and benefits by 30%). They also stopped paying into the pension fund and filed for bankruptcy. Clearly they could see there was limited value remaining in the company and wanted to make sure as much as possible got into their own pockets.

I certainly don't think all owners/execs are evil and all unions are good guys, but this situation seems to be playing out that stereotype to a T.

Posted 6 months ago #
gracie

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At GW saw a "cookbook" for Twinkies. I almost bought it just for the heck of it & because Twinkies may be "bye bye" (word gonig to court so maybe they'll be in business again)

Posted 6 months ago #