Ding Dong

Last updated
A Hostess Ding Dong Ding dongs.jpg
A Hostess Ding Dong

A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake produced and distributed in the United States by Hostess Brands and in Canada from Vachon Inc. under the name King Dons; in some U.S. markets, it was previously known as Big Wheels. With the exception of a brief period in 2013, the Ding Dong has been produced continuously since 1967. It is round with a flat top and bottom, close to three inches in diameter and slightly taller than an inch, similar in shape and size to a hockey puck. A white creamy filling is injected into the center and a thin coating of chocolate glaze covers the cake. The Ding Dong was originally wrapped in a square of thin aluminum foil, enabling it to be carried in lunches without melting the chocolate glaze.

Contents

History and naming

The Ding Dong is similar to other cream-filled cakes such as Arcade Vachon's Jos. Louis introduced before 1934. [1] Hostess began marketing its Ding Dong in 1967. The name was given to coincide with a television ad campaign featuring a ringing bell.

Hostess went out of business on November 16, 2012, stopping all production. The Hostess name and brands were acquired by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co.; in June 2013, the new Hostess Brands reopened a Kansas product plant and announced that Ding Dong production would resume on July 15, 2013. The J.M. Smucker Company then acquired Hostess in September 2023. [2]

Ring Ding Ding Dong conflict

A Drake's Ring Ding Drakes-Ring-Dings.jpg
A Drake's Ring Ding

The company marketed the snacks on the East Coast as Big Wheels, to avoid confusion with Ring Dings, a similar and pre-existing treat by Drake's Cakes. The names were consolidated in 1987, when a short-lived merger of Drake's with Hostess's parent company (then Continental Baking Company) briefly resolved the Ring Ding Ding Dong conflict. When the merged company broke up, however, Hostess was once again forced to cease using the Ding Dongs name in areas where Ring Dings were available. The compromise sound-alike name King Dons lasted until Interstate Bakeries Corporation, which had recently merged with Hostess' parent company, bought Drake's in 1998. The Hostess product was then sold under the name Ding Dongs throughout the United States, although it was still sold as King Dons in Canada.

Cartoon characters

To advertise Ding Dongs, Hostess created the cartoon character King Ding Dong, an anthropomorphized Ding Dong sporting a crown and scepter. He was similar to other Hostess characters Captain Cupcake, Happy Ho Ho, Twinkie the Kid, Fruit Pie the Magician, and Chipper Brownie. Where King Dons were marketed, the character, like the product, was known as "King Don." In areas that once used the Big Wheels name, the character was previously an Indian chief named "Chief Big Wheel".

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Madison</span> Snack food brand

Dolly Madison is an American bakery brand owned by Hostess Brands, selling packaged baked snack foods. It is best known for its long marketing association with the Peanuts animated TV specials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twinkie</span> American snack cake

A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc., itself currently owned by The J.M. Smucker Company and having been formerly owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company as the second incarnation of Hostess Brands. During bankruptcy proceedings, Twinkie production was suspended on November 15, 2012, and resumed after an absence of a few months from American store shelves, becoming available again nationwide on July 15, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate Bakeries</span> Bakeries of the United States

Old HB, Inc., known as Hostess Brands from 2009 to 2013 and established in 1930 as Interstate Bakeries Corporation, was a wholesale baker and distributor of bakery products in the United States. Before its 2012 closure and liquidation, it owned the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The J.M. Smucker Company</span> American food and beverage manufacturer

The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major business units: consumer foods, pet foods, and coffee. Its flagship brand, Smucker's, produces fruit preserves, peanut butter, syrups, frozen crustless sandwiches, and ice cream toppings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yodels</span>

Yodels are frosted, cream-filled cakes made by the Drake's company, which was bought by McKee Foods after former owner Old HB went bankrupt. Yodels are distributed on the East Coast of the United States. They are similar to Hostess Brands' Ho Hos and Little Debbie's Swiss Cake Rolls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drake's Cakes</span> Brand of American baked goods

Drake's is a brand of American baked goods. The company was founded by Newman E. Drake in 1896 in Harlem, New York, as The N.E. Drake Baking Company, but it is now owned by McKee Foods. The company makes snack cake products such as Devil Dogs, Funny Bones, Coffee Cakes, Ring Dings, and Yodels. Drake's has traditionally been marketed primarily in the Northeastern U.S., but it expanded to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. regions in 2016. The products are made under the Orthodox Union kosher certification guidelines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKee Foods</span> Snack food and granola manufacturer

McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family-owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. The corporation is the maker of Drake's Cakes, Fieldstone Bakery snacks and cereal, Little Debbie snacks, and Sunbelt Bakery granola and cereal. The company also formerly operated Heartland Brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chocolate cake</span> Baked cake flavored with chocolate

Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. It can also have other ingredients such as fudge, vanilla creme, and other sweeteners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ho Hos</span> American snack cake brand

Ho Hos are small, cylindrical, frosted, cream-filled chocolate snack cakes with a pinwheel design based on the Swiss roll. Made by Hostess Brands, they are similar to Yodels by Drake's and Swiss Cake Rolls by Little Debbie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chocodile Twinkie</span> Confection created by the Hostess Brands company

Chocodile Twinkies are a confection created by the Hostess Brands company. The confection was known only as Chocodiles prior to 2014. The package describes the snack cake as a "chocolate coated sponge cake with creamy filling." The Chocodile is Twinkie-shaped and sold in packages of two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twinkie the Kid</span> Mascot for Twinkies cakes

Twinkie the Kid is the mascot for Twinkies, Hostess's golden cream-filled snack cakes. He is a registered trademark of Hostess Brands. He made his debut in 1971. He has appeared on product packaging, in commercials and as related collectible merchandise, except for a brief period between 1988 and 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sno Balls</span> Cream-filled chocolate cakes covered with marshmallow frosting and colored coconut flakes

Sno Balls are cream-filled chocolate cakes covered with marshmallow frosting and coconut flakes formerly produced and distributed by Hostess and currently owned by The J.M. Smucker Company. Sno Balls are usually pink; however, they are also available in chocolate, lemon, white, green, blue and other colors for specific holidays and times of year. They come in packages of two and are sold at many convenience and grocery stores in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snack cake</span> Small cake

Snack cakes are a type of baked dessert confectionery made with cake, sugar, and icing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choco pie</span> Snack cookie with chocolate coating

A choco pie is a snack cake consisting of two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling and a chocolate covering. The term originated in the United States but is now also used widely in South Korea, Japan, and countries to which it exports, and many other countries as either a brand name or a generic term. Names for similar confections in other places include chocolate marshmallow pie, Wagon Wheels, angel pie, and moon pie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solo Foods</span> American food manufacturing company

Solo Foods, LLC is a manufacturer of food ingredients, makers of Solo and Baker dessert fruit and nut fillings, marshmallow creme and toasted marshmallow creme, Simon Fischer fruit butters, marzipan, almond paste and Chun’s Asian cooking sauces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hostess CupCake</span> American snack cake brand

Hostess CupCake is an American brand of snack cake produced and distributed by Hostess Brands and currently owned by The J.M. Smucker Company. Its most common form is a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing and vanilla creme filling, with seven distinctive white squiggles across the top. However, other flavors have been available at times. It has been claimed to be the first commercially produced cupcake and has become an iconic American brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hostess Brands</span> American food company

Hostess Brands is an American bakery company formed in 2013. Its main operating subsidiaries are Hostess Brands, LLC, and Voortman Cookies Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hostess (snack cakes)</span> Brand of snack cakes made by Hostess brands

Hostess Cake, mostly known simply as Hostess, is a brand under which snack cakes are sold by Hostess Brands. The brand originated in 1919 when the first Hostess CupCake was sold. However, it is better-known as the brand under which Twinkies are sold, after that product appeared in 1930.

References

  1. "Vachon Jos. Louis product page". Archived from the original on 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  2. "J.M. Smucker to buy Twinkies maker Hostess Brands in $5.6 billion deal". September 11, 2023.