I’ve never had a Twinkie. I thought I’d get that out there at the very beginning of this blog post. Twinkies were never sold in the UK, so as a child the only contact I had with these small packets of sweaty trans fat heaven were on the silver screen.

“Ghostbusters” to be precise.

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As an adult I know better than to indulge in one of those empty-calorie sugar loaded treats. Yet the thought of Twinkies no longer being produced bothers me. I guess that my nostalgia surrounding this confectionary, albeit of a vicarious nature, is strong enough to have made Twinkies something that I like, or perhaps… even love?

The power of nostalgia can never be underestimated, people love to retain links to wonderful childhood memories. And you’d be forgiven for thinking that with that kind of brand equity, the mighty Twinkie would never be defeated…

However, the key to staying competitive in an ever changing marketplace is innovation. Today’s top brands build an unbeatable and sustainable competitive advantage through innovations that do not come from the market, but rather they create new markets of their own.

Unfortunately, through lack of innovation the mighty Twinkie fell out of favor with consumers. It appears that this confectionary dinosaur is no longer relevant in today’s market– no matter how strong the nostalgia might be, nostalgia does not always pay the bills.

Hostess Brands, the creator of the Twinkie (and the Ding Dong? I don’t even want to know what that is…), has recently been forced into bankruptcy after years of low sales, and a recent internal dispute that saw 30% of its workforce go on strike. They are currently in mediation with hopes that the brands they own can be sold to new owners.

I’m not sure that it will survive, and I’m not sure that it deserves to, but what I do know is that I’ll miss those little Twinkies.

Well, the idea of them anyway…