What: ConguitosWhere: Spain
Cost: Unknown (purchased by Basia)
The last time Basia and the gang were in Europe they brought me back a bag full of Polish caramels and other funny continental confections. It was like Christmas. Every thing I pulled out of the bag was more interesting than the last. Some looked delicious, others made my nose wrinkle. All were beautiful.
Then - a tradgedy.
Somehow the entire bag of candies got lost in the bustle of the backstage area and got left behind when we played at Metropolis in Montreal.
When I bemoaned this horrible discovery, Basia's mom (a deeply caring and infinitely practical woman) told me to stop worrying because there was a Polish deli that she can take me to in Etobicoke to get all that kind of stuff. It might not be quite the same but I will still be taking her up on her offer soon.
This bag of Conguitos was forgotten in Allison's suitcase and thus survived.
I'm not quite sure what to say about Conguitos. I don't speak Spanish, but the name looks like it's a diminutive for someone from the Congo*. Coupled with the picture on it I can't imagine what would happen if these were ever introduced to American markets. And the company seems to really like the character they have chosen to brand themselves with. It appears that they have modified it a bit recently, but the fact remains that they have an old black stereotype printed on every single peanut.
The peanuts themselves were very good. They were nicely toasted and covered in chocolate.
I really enjoyed eating them, but the packaging is impossible to ignore. Unless they completely revamp their marketing for this product I would not buy these peanuts if I saw them in a store.
1.5/10
HR
*Am I right?
3 comments:
I can't believe these things are still on the market! Holy crap, that's all sorts of wrong.
Spain!
Don’t be so tough! I suppose that these days, when everything has to be politically correct, it might seem racist. But the branding and the character were created in 1960 and it was not racist at all. It was something really naïve. And nowadays it is something so familiar to everybody in Spain that they cannot change it.
Hmmm, I think that just because it was not perceived as racism in the 1960s it does not mean that it was not actually racist...
The peanuts are delicious, with such a good product I'm sure they could stand to lose a little brand recognition by changing things up.
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