April wrote a post about her new favorite kind of Cheerios, and asked about putting a new spin on existing brands… but the curmudgeon in me wants to start my reply with “Well, when I was a kid…”

So I will.

(First, a disclaimer: I’m old. When I say “When I was a kid” I’m referring to the 1970s.)

So, when I was a kid, there was one kind of Oreo. There were not Oreo cookies filled with peanut butter, or orange creme for Halloween, or green stuff for St. Patrick’s Day, or dipped in fudge, or available in miniature sizes, or as an ice cream sandwich… We just ate plain old Oreo cookies and we survived. And it was good.

Oh sure, Oreo Double Stuf(f) came out in 1975, but it was one variation on the original, just with more… stuff.

But somewhere along the line, every product started to have all sorts of variations. Take the Ritz cracker. There was the plain old Ritz, and then Ritz Bits, and Rizt with cheese, and Ritz Sticks, and Ritz peanut butter and jelly. (Really!?)

Is it just the snack food industry that does this? If someone asks you for chips, do they want “regular” or cool ranch, or salt & vinegar, or jalapeño, or some other crazy flavor.

As of this post, I can view 47 different Oreo “products” available.

But is this all just the process of “extending the brand”? Are companies doing this sort of thing just to get more shelf space? To appeal to wider and more peculiar tastes? For publicity?

Oreo just had a birthday, and here at the office we had some sort of “Birthday Cake” Oreos and they were terrible. Well, I thought they were terrible, but as I said, I’m old. Maybe a kid would love them. (Especially a kid who loves cookies dipped in frosting and then rolled in sugar.)

Anyway, enjoy whatever weird flavored product you have in the name of extending a brand. :)

Kelloggs recently said that they are considering burning their logo into corn flakes with a laser. (Talk about branding!) One of their representatives had this to say: “We’ve established that it is possible to apply a logo or image onto food.”

It’s true! In fact, look at this chocolate bar…

Chocolate is a little easier to get your name on, as molds are used instead of lasers. Lasers tend to melt chocolate. Sure, you can blast a laser at any piece of food, but I don’t want to get too deep into laser etching food right now…

Hey look, even our friends at Roundy’s have their name on their chocolate bars… which are the generic equivalent of a Hershey bar.

The idea behind Kelloggs “branding” some of the flakes in each box is to ensure that you’re getting genuine Kelloggs brand Corn Flakes™ and to let you know that some knock-off brand is just that, a cheap knock-off of the original.

So where will the future of branded food take us? I’ve got my own ideas (and I’ve done a few experiments) but I’d love to hear what others think.

Last week we celebrated another year with our “z2 inspired Holiday Party” which included a 5-course breakfast at The Pfister Hotel, followed by a train ride to Chicago for a bit of shopping before heading out to Moto in Chicago for a 15-course meal (yes, I said 15!) that included 9 savory dishes, 6 desserts, and edible paper and ink along the way.

And the chefs? You may have seen Richie Farina and Chris Jones on Top Chef: Texas. Yeah, those were our chefs…

It was definitely an experience to be remembered. A big thanks goes out to Cory and Deb from all the Z2 staff for this one.

Happy Holidays everyone! :)

There was food, drink, music, and mingling… Another year and another Club z2 is in the can!

Thanks to our clients, vendor, family, and friends for helping us celebrate our eighth year. It’s been a wild ride, and we look forward to the next eight years, at which point Z2 will be 16, and old enough to drive, and then we’ll really be in trouble!

Here’s our very own Cory performing with his band ZyFy. If you didn’t know, besides being a creative director, photographer, cinematographer, and one of the owners of Z2, he’s also a musician, and performs at Club Z2 each year, as well as various gigs around to in support of the This Time Tomorrow Foundation he helped start. (He’s a busy guy!)

We were also privileged to have Willy Porter join us, and he played a great set for the crowd. Thanks for coming out Willy!

And yes, there was wine. Lots of wine… And wings, and cupcakes, and a photo booth, and some QR code madness, and… well, if you missed it, you’ll just have to join us next year.

In the meantime, check out some of the Club Z2 photos or the Photo Booth photos, over on our Facebook page.

(And while you’re there, don’t be afraid to ‘Like’ us!)

So when I opened this cookie I looked to my right and saw a 60+ year old man wearing an auto body shirt with oil stains. Some looked fresh and others put there in his youth. He was nibbling on a chicken wing as if it was caviar. He also had some form of breathing issues or a cold because it alone was disturbing.

Well then on my left was a young woman. Maybe in her low 20′s. Not eating any food. Actually not sure why she was even there. I was there for about 20 minutes and she never put her phone down. Maybe Facebooking or Foursquaring or simply texting her friends, but she did seem very confused based on her facial expressions.

So back to my cookie. Well if one of those 2 random people are my happiness then I’m a not really sure what I’m searching for.

Got an FN Cookie? Send it in, along with your comments, to info@z2marketing.com and we’ll post it here.