The cookies sold by my daughter's Girl Scout troop are now called "Caramel deLites'' instead of "Samoas.'' Why?
I'm outaged--yes,
outraged
--that
have new names.
Samoas are now "Caramel deLites.'' Do-si-dos are "Peanut Butter Sandwiches.'' Tagalongs are "Peanut Butter Cookies'' and Trefoils are "Shortbreads.''
The only name that remains unscathed is "Thin Mints.''
When I first saw my daughter's order form this week, I seriously thought the names were changed for PC reasons.I wondered if groups who felt slurred , like Samoans, or Filipinos (who speak tagalog, although I mistakenly thought it was "tagalong''), had finally persuaded the Girl Scouts to nix the derogatory names.
But that's not what happened. It turns out there's a few different bakeries that make Girl Scout cookies, and they give the cookies different names.
Our troop's Girl Scout council used to get cookies from the Little Brownie Bakery, which still uses the original names.
But there was a massive shake up in Girl Scout land, and when a bunch of troops consolidated, ours went with the ABC Bakery. The cookies supposedly taste the same. But who cares?
The new names are depressingly literal. I loved that the old names were either bad puns ("Samoas,'' like "some mores,'' get it?) or filled with obscure Girl Scout references.
"Trefoils'' are the insignia scouts wear; "tagalong'' is a game they used to play."
They're now called "Thanks-A-Lots,'' which sounds sarcastic ("thanks a lot), although the cookies are earnestly printed with the word "thank you'' in five languages. (The ad copy on my daughter's form describes them as "heart-warming shortbread cookies dipped in rich fudge'').
According to Wikipedia, "Do-Si-Dos'' used to be called "Jackie O's. But the name must have been dropped by the time I was selling them in the mid-1970s.
Back then, I hated selling Girl Scout cookies because I had to do it alone. But I like selling them with my daughter. I even like hounding co-workers with guilt-inducing requests that they buy my kid's cookies, even if they don't like Girl Scout Cookies, or they're worried about their weight.
Because to refuse the cookies would be an unpardonable slight to me and my child. And you wouldn't want to ride the elevator with me after that. Things could get frosty!
But how are we going to move cookies with dull names like "Peanut Butter Patties?'' And won't we get tired of explaining to customers what happened with the names?
If our cookie sales drop this year, the ABC Bakery will hear about it from this irate mom, believe you me!
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