Random Picture #188

When I was a kid, I didn't like Cracker Jacks. There was something off to me about the caramel coating. It always tasted a bit burnt to me. However, I was always happy to get a box of it anyway because of the prize inside. That was a long time ago when the prizes were at least a little less lame than they are now. I remember being annoyed when I got miniature coloring books or stickers and being happy when I got some pointless piece of crap. Somehow, the item being plastic made it seem like I got something more "real".

In the case of Cracker Jacks, you got a little prize and a whole lot of food. In the case of this Glico offering, you get a whole lot of prize and very little candy. This is part of the Star Wars series that I mentioned before. There are 10 straps featuring various popular characters from the movies. You don't have a choice about which one you'll get so you'll need to buy a lot of boxes to get the ones you want. The candy is almost an afterthought (the heart on the front shows it). It's like the bubblegum in baseball cards - included because it seems necessary and not because that's what the buyer really wants. The portion of candy is also incredibly tiny (a half ounce). If I had wanted to buy this, it would have cost me $1.98 (about 200 yen). Since the candy really isn't what's on offer here and I'm not a Star Wars fan, I passed, but I can see how this would be pretty enticing for a collector.

The Force is With Glico

All images courtesy of Glico.

Glico has gone all out and has licensed Star Wars imagery for a large number of its products. Now, you can get Yoda curry, or, if you prefer your curry on the dark side, Darth Vader can serve you up some spicy Imperial love.

It's not just the food products that are going all out, but the snacks as well. For the toddlers, there is  Star Wars Bisco and the images have been appropriately "chibified" for the demographic.

If the curry is family-oriented and the Bisco for the baby set, Pocky is going to target pretty much everyone else. This particular type has a bit of extra awesome sauce added for the Star Wars fans. There is a "Star Wars bowling" game included.

The game is made of paper and includes a loop that you roll up to use as a ball. I'm rather dubious of the effectiveness of it, but my guess is that any real fan would never actually play this game anyway. They'd keep it in mint condition as a collector's item.

I'm not sure what brought on this deluge of Star Wars collaboration, but it may have something to do with Disney taking it over. It's not that George Lucas wouldn't license the images to sell curry and pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate, but rather that Disney may be trying to boost the public awareness of the brand in anticipation of producing new movies. I can't say for sure.

If you'd like to watch the Glico "movies" (i.e., commercials) using Star Wars, you can see four of them at this link. For the time being, the Force is with Glico, though I'm guessing it won't be with them "always". Rather, it'll be with them until their licensing agreement expires.