Hostess: Too big to Fail

With the news of Hostess closing its doors for good, came the sudden realization that yet another chapter is ending in America’s great story. Customers are left to scramble for the last crumbs of Hostess products from store shelves, making the annual mad dash on Black Friday look like a (Hostess) cake walk. I for one am heartbroken at the news. I wish I had a box of Twinkies to drown my sorrows in, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, like so many other Americans, I will be forever left to wonder what could have been.

Hostess, the bakery company that has brought us such timely classics such as Zingers, Suzy Q’s, and Ho-Ho’s, not to mention favorites such as Twinkies, Fruit Pies, Sno Balls, and Ding Dongs, has announced they are no longer financially soluble and are therefore closing their doors for good. News hasn’t rocked the food and beverage world like this since Wilie Wonka announced he would be shutting the doors of his famous candy factory – and even then, that was only in a fictional story. Americans are left to wonder who will be next? If it can happen to Hostess, why not other great American food companies such as Hershey’s or Kraft or Hebrew National? I personally cannot even imagine a world without Kraft imitation cheese slices, which completely revolutionized the hamburger industry.

I have never been a fan of the Wall Street bailouts of the big banks and auto industry, only because I find the concept of “too big to fail” to be a slap in the face of every business that has struggled to keep their financial house in order, not to mention the financial burden it puts on the American People. But the news of Hostess has left me to wonder, if any bakery is too big to fail, certainly it would be Hostess. Hostess Brand is as American as apple pie, baseball, or the groovy hippie movement of the 70’s. Certainly Hostess is a company deserving of the financial backing of Chinese borrowed money from our government. I mean if not Hostess, then who?

I, like so many others, am left to wait and see what will happen. The Sno Ball, Mr. President, is in your court…the only question is what will you do with it?