Thursday, December 12, 2002
Multinational corporate marketing pain comes to Boston: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., whose oh-so-cutesy corporate marketing machine is starting to seriously annoy, is coming to Boston. Local story line: Coming to the home of Dunkin’ Donuts. Get it? Ha, ha, ha. ... Really, I guess I’m supposed to play along with the cutesy schtick about how much I love or hate Krispy Kreme (sort of like Ken Burns getting all gooey about baseball etc.), but we used to call ‘glazed’ doughnuts ‘honey dip’ doughnuts when I was young and dragged into church with promises of doughnuts afterward -- and I never really liked honey dips. Nor going to church. I always liked jelly crullers. (And I also like Piccalilly relish on hot dogs ... so back off!)
A reader responds: Someone wrote that he didn't get this item. Let me explain in my best former business journalism lingo: I think the whole Krispy Kreme phenomenon was (and certainly is by now) a tired marketing ploy, not a true story, by a publicly traded, overpriced company that needs to expand in order to keep Wall Street happy. The schtick has been used in other cities -- and too many media outlets bite into it as if it's a big story. So I pulled out my Doughnut Catholicism schtick to counter it. Get it?
A reader responds: Someone wrote that he didn't get this item. Let me explain in my best former business journalism lingo: I think the whole Krispy Kreme phenomenon was (and certainly is by now) a tired marketing ploy, not a true story, by a publicly traded, overpriced company that needs to expand in order to keep Wall Street happy. The schtick has been used in other cities -- and too many media outlets bite into it as if it's a big story. So I pulled out my Doughnut Catholicism schtick to counter it. Get it?
