Dear products developers at Dannon,
I am writing to express my confusion over the most recent product of yours to hit my supermarket’s shelves. “Crushable Yogurt,” you call it, because it’s consumed by crushing the container and slurping out the sugary contents.
Huh?
What’s wrong with teaching our children to eat with utensils? This product is marketed towards kids who have long mastered eating with a spoon, yet it encourages them to abandon the tool altogether. What genius on your team thought of this?
Sippable yogurt was bad enough, but at least clean to eat. The squeezable kind were messy, but still somewhat sensible on the go. These, however, are disastrous. Did you have children test them out before distributing them? Did it dawn on you that without spoons, children would resort to using their fingers to dig every last bit out?
Unless you intended for this to double as yogurt facial, I’d say this was a big failure on your part. I let my children convince me once to buy this asinine item, but I won’t make that mistake again. Or, if I do, they’ll be sent in school lunches where I don’t have to deal with clean up. But, I have a feeling they’ll be wisely banned from the approved school lunch list in record speed.
If you’re looking for innovative yogurt ideas, how about including a plastic spoon in the packaging? Or managing to sneak some spinach or broccoli in? Or lowering the sugar content and artificial coloring? Other than that, please stick to good, old fashioned yogurt. Some things are fine just the way they are.
Sincerely yours,
Scary Mommy
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These yogurt guys are obviously in league with the paper towel manufacturers.
.-= lceel´s last blog ..The business end of things =-.
I agree wholeheartedly. Liquids and semi-solids should always be eaten with utentsils. End of story.
.-= Kate Coveny Hood´s last blog .."I Never Thought I’d Like Sunglasses" or "Shooting Practice Begins Tomorrow" =-.
What do you mean this review is unsponsored?? You mean they didn’t PAY you for this???
May I add that it is virtually impossible to “crush” all of the yogurt out of said cup…my kids always ask for a spoon or waste 40% of the product. Should we send them a proposal??
.-= Mama Kat´s last blog ..Writer’s Workshop: Things I Have Learned From My Toddler =-.
I agree wholeheartedly! Whatever happened to the simple, easy things?
I was in the store the other day and wanted something flavorful but without all the sugar. I couldn’t find anything. It was either water or 30bajillion grams of sugar. Remember when we used to just put a squeeze of lemon in our water? Or when lemonade was tart and delicious, not so chock-full of sugar you couldn’t taste the bitterness?
.-= Grizzly Kitteh´s last blog ..Can’t talk now. =-.
I completely agree! I got suckered into buying these once…I knew they were stupid just from seeing the commercial with “Zach N’ Cody” haha. But I figured they could give em a try….not sure who came up with that idea but it’s a horrible idea. I mean are we that lazy? Anything that markets to kids, I’ll be glad to see the “discontinued item” sticker on those.
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..That’s a bummer… =-.
I completely agree with you! I would have never in a million years bought these – but my preschool daughter saw a friend eat one, and she described them so perfectly to my husband that he – the pushover ;-) – went and bought some! Totally uncool messy sugary stuff.
.-= Dina´s last blog ..Back to School Blog Bash with 3 Boys & a Dog =-.
Oh, forgot to mention in my rant – then, as soon as I declared that we are not buying these any more, my daughter got strep throat and heart-breakingly pleaded for this yogurt. Since she did not have much of an appetite for anything else, I had to go and buy some more! Then her sister started wanting them, too… I am happy to say that now the novelty has worn off and there are no more (almost) teary-eyed requests for the crushies at my house.
.-= Dina´s last blog ..Back to School Blog Bash with 3 Boys & a Dog =-.
It’s like a push pop without the push or the pop…fail.
A-FREAKING-MEN!!!!!
.-= DiPaola Momma´s last blog ..Fit Pitchin’ Friday… I say we boycott! =-.
Do you remember when it used to only be the Heath Nuts (read carob munching hippies) that ate yogurt? It was supposed to be a natural, healthy thing.. How did it all of the sudden become Cotton-candy-flavored-blue-dye-#5-crush-it-in-your-face frat boy food? All I could think of when I caught the first adverts was Biff the Frat Boy crushing a can of Bud on his forehead and um yeah that’s not what I’d like to teach my kids to behave like.
.-= DiPaola Momma´s last blog ..Fit Pitchin’ Friday… I say we boycott! =-.
Yeah, totally didn’t get the marketing genius behind this either.
.-= Suzy Voices´s last blog ..Rescue Mission =-.
I just bought 5 packages of these at the store today. I bought 4 last week. 3 the week before that.
And actually, the crush cups don’t have high fructose corn syrup or any artificial dyes or flavors in it, which is why I buy it. I mean, I’d *love* for the kids to eat my completely healthy homemade yogurt, but they won’t no matter plain, fruit, whatever.
I don’t love the spoonless marketing, but eh, I’ll sacrifice that to get the kids to eat a yogurt w/a good amount of protein and w/o the HFCS and artificial dyes. The sugar content isn’t great (14 g) but I’ve compared and it’s actually lower than some of the adult yogurt cups.
.-= Heather, Queen of Shake Shake´s last blog ..The Chaos of Complexity, The Clarity of Simplicity =-.
Also, Danimals didn’t bribe me to post that comment, however, if they’d like to throw money at me or a year’s supply of Crush cups, I wouldn’t say no.
I just read ingredients very carefully now that I’ve figured out my son has a sensitivity to red dye #40 and yellow dyes. Those dyes are in EVERYTHING (even down to children’s motrin) and it’s frustrating. I’m happy to have found a yogurt w/o it.
.-= Heather, Queen of Shake Shake´s last blog ..The Chaos of Complexity, The Clarity of Simplicity =-.
Really?! Hmmmm. That is impressive. I did notice the sugar wasn’t as bad as some of the others, but my kids will eat the natural stuff too, so I’d prefer that. The fact that they insist on digging out the last 25% of the container is what gets me the most. Especially when they go touching my new sofa with those fingers.
And, for a year of free yogurt, I might back down on my stance. Might.
AARGH… I have bought those crush cups for my kids non-stop since they came out. Not because I love them, mind you. It seems like every pack of 4 gets at least one cup broken and leaking by the time we get home. But, it is the only yogurt I can find with no red dye or artificial sweeteners. I know, a bit of a foodie freak. But any possible claim that my kids may chill out a little if I eliminate red dye, I’m totally on that bandwagon.
.-= Texan Mama´s last blog ..If I Knew You Were Coming… =-.
Every time I go to the market with Kaish in tow he wants some new kind of yougurt. And the kid NEVER eats it. It just sits in my fridge for freaking ever. And then I throw it out and wonder why I wasted $2.99 on it.
PS I need a trainer too. I know, I know, you talked about it 3 posts ago and I am just telling you now.
.-= Life with Kaishon´s last blog ..Crisis Averted! =-.
I just bought these to silence the begging. And my little guy decided to scoop it out with his hand. Just like you said! What a stupid packaging invention! They are to be eaten with spoons from now on until there is no more. Which will be soon. And they will never be bought again by me.
.-= Renee´s last blog ..The Dr. Oz Show =-.
I know right? WTF? Really?
We bought them once and to me it seems like a wateful marketing ploy. Dannon is my favorite yogurt too – come on Dannon, just stick to what you do best yogurt.
It was worth it for you to buy them for that wonderful yogurt nose & smile :))
.-= Jamaise´s last blog ..Pond’s Wet Cleansing Towelettes Review & Giveaway =-.
Get this!!! Did you know that the U.S and Canada are the Only major countries where food dye (chemical) is NOT banned. Thats sickening!
Really, can’t we find a natural color or none! I am not so shallow of a consumer, mom or person that I will go, uhm theres no color to that yogurt….Well i’m not buying that ugly stuff! And please Dannon and others…do us a favor…if you do take the coloring out…don’t charge us additional when we know you are coming out on top by not having to put cost in coloring!
I’ve never heard of crushable yogurt before, but now I’m interested.
I mean, maybe this is a food revolution, started by Dannon. Soon all foods will offer a utensil free option. Just imagine – crushable plates, so whatever you’re having for dinner can go directly in the mouth.
The inevitable conclusion is crushable lunchbags, where you put all food in unwrapped so your child can simply raise the bag to their mouths and chow down.
Wait, is that a trough?
Maybe pigs have beaten us to the punch.
Worst. Invention. Ever. I hate these things with passion and the commercial makes me want to gouge my eyeballs out. My son just HAD to have some and oh my God what a frickin’ mess!!
Loved your post!
.-= Nina´s last blog ..I’d Have A Dozen Kids…….If It Weren’t For Teething!! =-.
I don’t get the whole slurping thing either. My kids tried them and after the first spill (my kids are messaphobes), the rest were sent to school to give to the children that are not very nice to my children…and whose parents really irk me anyway.
Yeah… My son saw a commercial for those and I flat out told him that I would never buy them. Cute pic, though!
I have heard that yogurt is good for your skin, though. But probably whatever was good in a Dannon kid’s yogurt is erased by the purple dye…
.-= IASoupMama´s last blog ..Hello World! Remember Me? =-.
I hate them. And I usually don’t “hate” anything. But crush cups? Hate ‘em.
I happened on this site actually looking for coupons for Dannon Crushables. I am the mother of 4. My oldest son if very picky and won’t eat sandwiches, which makes packing his lunch difficult at times. He does love yogurt, especially Trix brand – but it is full of dyes -so, I am not such a fan. I saw these in the store and read their ingredients and was thrilled that it contained nothing incriminating, to top it off, he loves them. They’re “cool” and fun to him.
Ladies, don’t be offended, but, lighten up! Is being a kid and getting messy such a bad thing? I believe they go hand in hand – as it should be.
I hate these things. I am a teacher at an elementary and this “yogurt” is considered a “lunch”. The kids get this and some fruit as well as their choice of veggies. Does anyone have some “nutrition” facts on this junk? I personally want to get it banned from our school.
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