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December 08, 2003

The Oreo Situation

As it stands, there is half a package of Double Stuf Oreos in our kitchen cabinet. Robyn and I are doing are best to not allow them to go stale, and we will undoubtedly be successful. The last time, we only had the regular single Stuf cookie in there. I've had them before, but it was not until this most recent encounter with the Double Stuf that I was able to put my finger on their mystery.

My ideal Oreo-eating experience is dunking them in milk until they get a little soggy and then eating them. If I'm feeling adventurous, I might untwist one and lick the frosting before dunking. Maybe it isn't for us all, but we can't all be perfect and it's okay.

The problem with the Double Stuf is this: too much of a good thing. Sure, the white filling is tasty and bad for you, but simply doubling it's quantity does not double the value of the cookie itself. The extra filling repels milk and lessens the ability of the outer cookie to get soggy. Trying to untwist the cookie for any filling removal results in it crumbling in your hands and making a mess. The experience is wholly dissatisfying when compared to eating the original.

And I daren't even ask why there's only one "f'" in Stuff. I don't know what that is supposed to suggest to the consumer. Either the Oreo people can't spell or they assume we can't. It's hard to imagine that I word like "stuff" would be trademarked or anything...

Now that I know this, I can avoid the trap. I have fallen victim to the advertising before. I see it on the shelves and think yes, yes ... Double Stuf is better. It's twice the cream! How could that possibly be wrong? But, for me is is wrong. I do not want the extra cream. I want my milk and my soggy cookie. My feeling on the matter is that bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to Oreos, leave well enough alone and if it ain't broke...

Posted by kati at December 8, 2003 04:24 PM

Comments

it's all about the mint oreos. They have more cream but not as much as the double stuf ones and they're MINTY to boot.

Posted by: nuala at December 8, 2003 05:23 PM

Robyn and I were just talking about how scared we were of the flavored-cream Oreos. Coffee and mint and the like. sounded icky. Granted, I've never actually tried them, but have already passed judgement. so what kind of person am I? I must at least experience the Mint before I condemn it.

So Nuala, because of your recommendation I will endeavor to try these Mint Oreos. I'll remain skeptical for now, but take your suggestion under advisement. I'm always looking for ways to improve my Oreo experience.

Posted by: kati at December 8, 2003 06:08 PM

mmmm, coffee. yum. i love the double stuf, only because they are so thick that i have to hold them in milk (completely submerged so the whole cookie softens up), which numbs my fingers, but a good cookie is worth suffering for.

btw, the strawberry shortcake newtons are REALLY good.

btw2, i'm planning a tour of the It's It factory. Taking reservations.

Posted by: cody at December 8, 2003 07:15 PM

it's it!

um, that was not me chiming in for a reservation.

i like the fudge covered oreos too. mmm more chocolate can never be wrong.

Posted by: michele at December 8, 2003 08:11 PM

I'm skeptical of the coffee and peanut butter oreos, but as my roommate said when she tried the minty ones, "It's a great substiute while you wait for thin mints to come into season again."

Nummy...Damn. Now I want some.

Posted by: nuala at December 8, 2003 10:44 PM

i'd imagine the misspelling is a misguided attempt at trademarking the name. "double stuff" is descriptive and therefore unprotectable, but "doublestuf" looks like a made-up word, which would normally be a protectable "fanciful" term. of course, courts have consistently held that trivial misspellings don't render terms any less descriptive, but at the very least the characteristic spelling may deter competitors from using it. so, "double stuff hydrox" is more likely than "doublestuf hydrox."

then again, either one might be trademarked because nabisco could argue that the use of the word "stuff" (or "stuf") to refer to lard filling is arbitrary, or at least descriptive with secondary meaning, in which case hydrox couldn't use the word "stuf(f)" at all to refer to their filling.

sorry. IP final's in a week.

also, i'm pretty sure they changed the recipe a few years ago to make it a lot hard to separate regular oreos. i haven't been able to do it consistently since i was a young'n.

Posted by: holohan at December 9, 2003 09:12 AM

I can't comment on those weird, not-as-God-intended-them-to-be-flavored cream Oreos, but I will tell you that the chocolate cream ones are both delicious and not unvegan in any way that's apparent to me without extensive research. The regular and double stuf ones blatantly flaunt their whey and milk solids, and I can't be having that kind of attitude in my cookies, thank you very much.

Posted by: dianna at December 9, 2003 11:35 AM

I whole heartedly agree with you, Kati. About the method of consumption, the problem of milk absorbtion in DoubleStuf, and all the rest. You have hit the cream-filled nail on the proverbial chocolate cookie head. Original is the way to go...although mint does sound rather tempting.

Posted by: kelly at December 9, 2003 11:51 AM

Suprise, surprise - Cody mentioned Newtons! You're obsessed, man. I have so many early memories of being high at Cody's house and suddenly realizing that I had consumed a whole row of Fruit Newtons.

And to address the oreo issue: As of about 3 months ago, I was pretty Oreo inexperienced. I'd had Oreo's, mind you, but we'd never had them in my *home* - like, a whole package of them. I never knew the joys of eating oreos at every meal of the day, until now. Thank you, Kati, for bringing them into my life the way you and BJ have. Regular, Doublestuf - I'll take what I can get.

Posted by: robyn at December 9, 2003 04:28 PM

what do you get when you grind up isaac asimov and use him has filling for a small snack cake?

an isaac newton.

thank you, thank you very much.

Posted by: holohan at December 9, 2003 05:24 PM

Bam!! All I have to say is mint Oreos are God damn good-
Nothing beats thin mints and little green girls, but I support them all around.
Their minty tastiness wets my palette every time, real 'kick it up a notch' kind of stuff.

Posted by: Mike at December 11, 2003 11:56 PM

"DoubleStuf" is one word and since it doesn't exist in any language Nabisco can trademark the name.
Double Stuff they can not
It would be like Paris Hilton crazy atempt at tyring to trademark "It's Hot", you can't do it.

Posted by: Ken at December 26, 2004 08:07 AM

I think the phrase was "That's Hot", since we're nitpicking.

Posted by: robyn at December 27, 2004 11:17 PM