Some may bite into a Scooby Doo fruit snack or eat a can of SpaghettiOs and have intense flashbacks to their childhood. Me? Nothing brings me back to the throes of my youth like chomping down on a molasses, gingerbread-like Speculoos biscuit.
Speculoos biscuits are the quintessential snack or dessert treat for Belgian and Dutch natives, or in my case, expat kids who lived there. Speculoos are no new product, and their familiarity and homemade connotation function as a large part of their appeal. Lotus Bakeries is one of the leading brands that produce packaged Speculoos, and they were founded in 1932 in Lembeke, Belgium. However, Speculoos biscuits themselves existed way before 87 years ago as homemade cookies, which contributed to establishing their familial connection and sense of nostalgia.
Every single packaged Biscoff Speculoos biscuit looks and tastes exactly the same. There is no such thing as seasonal flavors of Speculoos or red velvet or chocolate iterations of Speculoos that exists with a brand like Oreos in the United States. This is intentional and conveys the ideology that when the original is excellent, there is no need to generate new versions of product to satisfy the customer base. Sticking to one simple packaging design and color serves to establish the brand and create a sense of familiarity, no matter what context the biscuit appears in. Speculoos function as a cultural staple of Belgian and Dutch snacks because they embrace the commonplace that overconsumption is considered excessive and the satisfaction of a product is not determined by its variety but instead by its quality.
By analyzing other countries’ cultural staples, we allow that which is familiar to us and the things we consider commonplaces to come under scrutiny and perhaps not become so common. Aware of the fact that other countries are perfectly content with the few, simple products they know and love, how do we as Americans feel about the aisles and aisles of junk food on our shelves that essentially are different forms of the same thing? What does that say about our collective cultural mentality about waste, want, and consumption?
Thank you.
I think that your opening was really strong! I have never heard of a Speculoo but comparing it to these other snacks really helps to convey what, exactly, they are. It puts an image in the reader’s mind even if they have never heard of a Speculoo before.
Overall I think the structure is pretty good but I would probably try and emphasize the ideologies and commonplaces a bit more. It may be just me, but I had to go back and reread it to fully understand what commonplaces you were referring to.
I can’t tell exactly how long this is, but it looks pretty good to me! Way to go!