Free Product Samples

Apparently today was "Hand Stuff Out Free to Pedestrians Day" in San Francisco. Walking home from the ballpark (jubilantly, after a 9-3 pasting of the Cubs), I was handed samples of two new products to try. So I suppose it's my patriotic duty to write about them.

The first was being handed out right by the park, lots of packets of Wrigley's Doublemint Twins mints. I guess the guys (they all seemed to be guys) handing them out are not graded on how many people they give samples to, just how many samples they give away. So they give them away in bunches, and I now have about 8-10 little packets of mints, which is probably close to a lifetime supply for me. [Brilliant marketing: saturate the customer, so they don't buy any of the product, ever!]

I tried them. They taste like Tic Tacs. Look like 'em, too. I don't see any exciting new elements to this product. Nothing wrong with them that I can tell, either. Just mints.

The other product, handed out at the base of Market Street, near the Ferry Building, is a new ice-cream sandwich product called Blisscotti. The hook is that the outside of the sandwich is made from biscotti, the really dry, crunchy biscuits made for dunking in coffee. There is some chocolate between biscotti and ice cream.

Now, I have to admit that I'm probably not in their target market: I don't like coffee, so I don't consume biscotti. On the other hand, I love ice cream and ice-cream sandwiches, so I thought I'd give it a try.

First: These things were way too cold. Like rocks. Couldn't bite them. Must have been storing them in dry ice or something. I did finally manage to crack off a piece and eat it. Obviously, this would be less of a problem at home.

Second: What is the point of this? Biscotti are hard and crunchy. They have no flavor to speak of. They are meant to be soaked in coffee to soften them and give them flavor. I suppose if you let all the ice cream melt, it might soak and soften the biscotti, but by then, nothing would be edible.

In short, this was not a winning product. I threw the rest away. If you want an ice-cream sandwich, stick with one of the classics, like an It's-It, especially if you're in San Francisco.