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03/01/2004: New Article: Hostess Choco-Bliss!

This one’s been mentioned by one of you blog commentator types a few times, so I figured, what the Hell, let’s put up a tribute to Hostess Choco-Bliss. Unlike Choco-Diles, these cakes are totally extinct and live on only through sweet memories and X-E’s exclusive commercial download featuring “Benny,” the boy who lost his friends to cake. The article is short and sweet. Choco-Bliss cakes were sweet. It was an intentional connection.

Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 92 comments

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First post?

Ghosted by Scott @ 03/01/2004 9:33 PM EST

Yay! Also, I used to love these things. I vaguely remember peeling the top layer of frosting off and eating it separately. I miss the Bliss.

Ghosted by Scott @ 03/01/2004 9:34 PM EST

Third? Hey, I’m on the medal stand!

Ghosted by MonsterDog @ 03/01/2004 9:38 PM EST

I don’t remember these, or even the commercials. As I live in a small town in an area of New Jersey where people only converge in between May and October, we only got the basic junk food and the occasional major fad. This also may have only been avalible in specific parts of the country, like the Choco-diles.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 03/01/2004 9:38 PM EST

awesome

Ghosted by Scourge @ 03/01/2004 9:51 PM EST

does anyone know the year these things came out? I have no relection of these. The guy in the ad, Benny looks like that guy who plays Seth in the OC. I’d like to put in a request for those old Hostess cupcakes, I forget the name the one that the bear took a bite out of.

Ghosted by pikachulover @ 03/01/2004 9:56 PM EST

I always ate these things by pulling the two cakes apart. Made me feel like I was eating four treats.

I think these they came out in 86 or 87. At least I remember getting sick from eating them around that time. And they were making them at least 10 years ago. I remember going to a gas station when I was 15 and thinking about that TV spot. This is one that has stuck with me for a very long time, and I don’t know why.

On a somewhat related note of website self-promotion, my website (http://rayzak.com/dre) has Sushi made from Hostess Cakes. Check it out!

Ghosted by Rayzak (my website has hostess sushi!) @ 03/01/2004 10:12 PM EST

"Anyone who ate this stuff ended up looking like they tried to give oral to a shitting bear’s ass" that brought me to tears it really did

Ghosted by scourge @ 03/01/2004 10:13 PM EST

This is me, kicking my ISP’s ass for not letting me send normal email.

Anyway, I have some information regarding your bag o’crap article, and since I can’t send it to you via email, I’ll just paste it here. Hope ya don’t mind.

—
http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0856/junk/42.html

That bubble gum seems to be of Mexican origin; I say this because well, I live there, and I’ve
bought that particular brand of gum for the last sixteen years. Although,I don’t really remember
it ever having that sort of packaging [the design, at least] so it has tobe from before 1988. The
green one is "Yerbabuena", sort of like the wintergreen flavored gum thatyou guys have, and
the other one is simply tutti-frutti… kinda like sweet fruit gum. I
can’t explain it.

http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0856/junk/38.html

I distinctly remember seeing this sometime in the mid 1980’s. I remember
getting one as a prize in an old cereal box, though I thought it was pretty shitty. All
you have to do is blow on one of the holes and make the ball go up. And that’s the entire point.

And uh, that’s it. I’ve seen some really weird candy down here, mostly
old, and well, if you
want some, I can send them. It’s no problem, plus you get to experience
the horror that is
having candy that tastes hotter than tabasco sauce.

Er, yeah. Later.
—

So there. Bye.

Ghosted by Kitsune Sniper @ 03/01/2004 10:55 PM EST

You finnaly got it out huh?
People like us have been watching this article all day..

Ghosted by Cyanyde @ 03/01/2004 11:00 PM EST

W000h..
someone missed the magic..
heeey mr. mrxstaplxz
play dat funky music…
hehe,
w0000h sorry dude..

Ghosted by Cyanyde @ 03/01/2004 11:03 PM EST

Y’know Matt, I’m pretty sure custom neon signs are a lot less trouble to get than what you’re willing to do to get the one from this commercial.
Then again, maybe you don’t mind losin’ a leg for total authenticity. You ate Nad’s Cream, how am I supposed to predict your neon-sign-obtaining-preferences…?

Ghosted by Rewolf J @ 03/01/2004 11:11 PM EST

Holy Coincedence Batman! Why just tonight I sampled Hostess’s latest snack treat Devil’s Food Cake Twinkies. As you would expect they were just normal Devil’s Food Cake snacks except they were shaped like Twinkies.
Yes it seems Hostess’s legendary snack engineers just phoned this one in. Makes me long for the days of Choco Diles and Choco Bliss.

Ghosted by Meatwad @ 03/01/2004 11:32 PM EST

Hey, I was just watching Unscrewed With Martin Sargent, and guess who was on!?! Robert Berry, from Retrocrush. Yeah, him! On TV! And I was watching!

Ghosted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 03/01/2004 11:52 PM EST

I asked at my recently downsized Hostess Day Old Bakery about how to get ahold of Tiger Tails. The lady told me she hadn’t seen any in the Hostess stores in a long time, and that I’d probably have better luck at a 7-11 type place. No wonder Hostess Bakery stores are floundering, they’re letting their competitors get ahold of all the good stuff!

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 03/02/2004 12:36 PM EST

I’ve been getting a couple Choco-Diles pretty much everytime I go to the store since they’re only $0.37 each… But last night, I made my way to my favorite isle to find that they were no longer there, and had been replaced with these Caremel Ho-Ho’s. There is no God.

Ghosted by Lauren @ 03/02/2004 12:41 PM EST

Matt, that commerical…what? This is as bad as the commericals for Jolt cola, where they explicitly tell you it contains twice the amount of caffine. The choco bliss ad reminds me disturbingly of opium dens and the korova milk bar from A Clockwork orange. And is it just me, or did "Benny" look like the evil clone of Fred "the wizard" Savage? I rest my case.

Ghosted by Jimkaider @ 03/02/2004 2:02 AM EST

I can kind of see the evil Fred Savage clone comparison. For some reason, Benny kind of scares me. Not sure why.

Ghosted by Andrea @ 03/02/2004 2:42 AM EST

choco-bliss sounds a lot like what I thought chocolicious were. are chocolicious still around, and were they the same thing as choco-bliss?

Ghosted by jag @ 03/02/2004 2:48 AM EST

I can’t believe that Hostess would kill off such an amazing sounding cake.

Ghosted by Ian @ 03/02/2004 2:54 AM EST

sadly i dont remember these…

Ghosted by heeloyd @ 03/02/2004 3:12 AM EST

I only tried these once, after talking my mom into buying them. I ate the whole box in a couple of days, and that was the last time she let me have any. I was a fat kid. I’m now a fat adult on a weight loss program. Mmmmm… chocolate.

Ghosted by Hope @ 03/02/2004 3:52 AM EST

Matt, for the sake of Joe "Gremlins" Dante please look into reviewing "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" on DVD. I have yet to see it, but it sounds like it might parallel his perfect "Gremlins 2" in amount of gags and jokes. If X-E could help in DVD sales for this box office failure then maybe we could all be that much closer to "Gremlins 3."

Ghosted by ME @ 03/02/2004 4:48 AM EST

Word. X .. O … foo’. XO!

Ghosted by burp @ 03/02/2004 5:25 AM EST

Thats it! Those are the things I was talking about when you mentioned Chocodiles. These were always my snack cake of choise. I loved Choco-Bliss. So much chocolatey goodness that I could never understand why anyone would choose anything different! But this also saddens me because after the Chocodile article, I looked everywhere for these. Now they are sadly extinct. If anyone does happen to stumble upon them, let me know! I will certainly buy a case, and I don’t care what the expiration date is!!!

Ghosted by Stilewalker @ 03/02/2004 8:16 AM EST

Man… American food culture

Whenever I watch an 80’s commerical it seems like they were all trying too hard, and the result would be that wonderful cheesyness we’ve all come to… love?

Ghosted by Recoil (Check out the Contra database.... yes, Contra as in classic run 'n' gun game!) @ 03/02/2004 8:42 AM EST

great article Matt! XO

Ghosted by chad @ 03/02/2004 8:49 AM EST

i never saw these things when i was a kid,where the hell was i?and x o is lost on me also

Ghosted by meef @ 03/02/2004 8:54 AM EST

Matt once again your knowledge of the obscure saves the day. I’ve been racking my brain for the last two weeks trying to remember what the hell these things were called. I applaud you sir for your tireless efforts. Good Show.
And as a side know, I was able to score some Chocodiles recently and they are just as good as I remember.

Ghosted by Brias @ 03/02/2004 10:21 AM EST

Want Choco-Diles?

909-686-5932
Wonder/Hostess Bakery #7034
2215 Third St
Riverside, CA 92501

They got em…

Ghosted by Jon @ 03/02/2004 10:48 AM EST

I was more of a kudos and funny bones man myself, but i love these articles! keep them coming.

Ghosted by mikey @ 03/02/2004 11:05 AM EST

I was a junor when these monstrosities were out, and I had a couple back then. mmmmmmmmmmm…..Choco….Blissssss…. And, like Matt pointed out, they stayed with you for quite some time. And as a diabetic now, I’d gladly risk my health for a few more. It’s a challenge to indulge my chocolate jones when most sugar free brands can be used as emergency laxitive. blorgh.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 03/02/2004 11:56 AM EST

Exo = Outside

So it was basically an 80’s slang term equivalent for "far out"

Ghosted by Chris @ 03/02/2004 12:15 PM EST

Ok, so Hostess deserves the genital warts for getting rid of choco-bliss, but I have one thing to say, and I’ve been saying it since Matt first tacked a message board to this site all those years ago,

*cough*

WHERE’S MY FUCKING PUDDIN PIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (please note the valid use of exclamations to portay anger)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t care if they ass rape the the pope with every fruit pie left in the world, I want ma puddin’ pies, you bastards.

Ghosted by Toxikfoxx @ 03/02/2004 12:33 PM EST

Hostess Tiger Tails = Gone

Hostess Choco-Bliss = Gone

Hostess Pudding PIes = Gone

BUT! There is a petition…

http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/hostesspuddingpies/

Ghosted by Randomkill @ 03/02/2004 12:57 PM EST

More on the extinct junk food topic. I mourned the day when the Ferrara Pan Company quit making their “Mr. Melon” candy. It was pretty much a fat watermelon flavored Jelly Belly, but so much better. My fondest childhood memory is hanging out at the city pool in 1986, Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait” playing off in the distance and a box of Mr. Melon in my hand.

I even went so far to write the company about the now defunct candy. They gave me some lame excuse that the candy was discontinued in the early ‘90s and the company has no immediate plans to bring it back. The company makes some sort of watermelon flavored lemonhead, but it sucks. Damnit.

Ghosted by Fletch F. Fletch @ 03/02/2004 1:12 PM EST

Me no remember this either.

Benny is pretty freakin’ scary. Yow!

Ghosted by Goonie4Life @ 03/02/2004 1:32 PM EST

"Chocolate on top of Chocolate, behind chocolate, under chocolate wrapped in chocolate…"
"Triple Chocolatey Outta Control!"
"Yeah!"

XO? Who the hell ever said XO? I think Hostess was trying to coin a new term, and obviously failed miserably.

Ghosted by Never Eat Shredded Wheat @ 03/02/2004 1:33 PM EST

Ox! Ox I say! But not Xuxa.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 03/02/2004 2:04 PM EST

Never Eat Shredded Wheat – Chris explained above that it was "Exo", not "XO".

Ghosted by Julie @ 03/02/2004 2:04 PM EST

XO? I presumed it meant ‘Excellent’

Also…..Benny looks so familiar, I’m sure I’ve seen his older face in a film somewhere. hmm…

Ghosted by Rondette @ 03/02/2004 2:19 PM EST

Is Chris’ theory of "Exo", as opposed to "XO", substantiated by anyone else? As a kid who had his finger on the pulse of much bad 80’s slang, I have never heard it before.

Ghosted by Never Eat Shredded Wheat @ 03/02/2004 3:00 PM EST

Actually they sale tiger tails at the gas station next door to my work. One of the guys I work with bought one the other day, but he wouldn’t share. That was just mean.

Ghosted by redslurpee @ 03/02/2004 4:42 PM EST

I go to school in Riverside, CA! And yes, our snack shop sells Choco-Diles. I had no idea they were so rare elsewhere.

But that’s a crying shame that they don’t make this Choco-Bliss anymore. Or that my Internet video player doesn’t work for that video.

Ghosted by Andrew @ 03/02/2004 5:56 PM EST

I think for the sake of argument, we should stick with XO; it’s easier to type, and will confuse the hell out of everyone else (if it doesn’t already).

Ghosted by evenbetter @ 03/02/2004 6:03 PM EST

eks-sew, eks-sew, eks-sew.
Three in a row, tic-tac-toe.
a-a-a-a-awe-some!

Ghosted by kingklash @ 03/02/2004 6:11 PM EST

lol.
looks like your evil twin is back kingklash. Lucky you.

Ghosted by Never Eat Shredded Wheat @ 03/02/2004 6:27 PM EST

Yeah, I deleted the second KK comment since it wasn’t made by him.

Ghosted by Matt @ 03/02/2004 6:30 PM EST

but at the very least it was kinda funny. :p

Ghosted by Never Eat Shredded Wheat @ 03/02/2004 6:32 PM EST

I don’t know if Kingklash would prefer people to think he refers to himself as a "h-h-homo," but if that’s the case, more power to him.

Ghosted by Matt @ 03/02/2004 6:33 PM EST

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