American snack food, in its oft-needed defense, has definitely made strides recent years toward shedding the "junk" precursor. And there's been some lofty developments from a few of the most major players in the game. On the other hand, we're still allowing some true travesties to occur in our grocer aisles. All of which is to say: American snack food is a mixed bag. There's still a whole lot of room for us to step up our snack game, as demonstrated by a new video showing young South Korean women trying popular American snack foods. Their reactions are silly and super entertaining, and their commentary is refreshingly ruthless.
One young woman marinates over the salty, crispy, poppable goodness of Goldfish crackers. "Baby snack!" she says, "Baby snack!" It's true that Goldfish are a high-ranking favorite of my 2-year-old nephew. But you know what? I'll be damned if I hang with him mid-Goldfish snacking and don't help myself to a few dozen or so. (Hey, he offers! I'm not a monster!) Another woman tries a Pop-Tart and thoughtfully speculates that it "tastes like a toy." Another test subject claims the Pop-Tart "tastes like something that's really bad for your body." One more likened it to a candle. Okay, look. They're not wrong. But I feel like I have to defend Pop-Tarts. It's in my blood. Sure, they "taste like a toy" or a "candle" that's "bad for your body", but are those things necessarily mutually exclusive with "delicious" or "amazing" or "perfect to pack for road trips so you don't get hangry?" Let's just say we're all correct.
Anyway, it's always fun to get a little outsider insight to spark our own meditations on very familiar items. Seriously—why do we eat half this stuff, anyway?
My favorite is when a participant bites into a salt and vinegar chip and frowns. "What do they make these for?" she says. A valid question for most of the snacks surveyed, to be honest. The interviewer asked what it tastes like. "...like someone is punching my tongue," she says. The suggestion to pair said chips with alcohol, though? I'm 'bout it.
Image: drsigmund/Flickr
