Save Hostess

Can Fan Art Save Twinkies?

<em>Day of the Dead Twinkies</em> by Nancy Peppin.
Day of the Dead Twinkies by Nancy Peppin. Photo: Scott Sonner/AP/Corbis

The fate of Hostess is still in limbo, but one artist is bringing attention to the nationwide outcry for more Twinkies. Nancy Peppin makes Twinkie-inspired art, using mediums such as watercolor, mixed media, and creative writing to express her love for the “ultimate American food icon.” It gets stranger; her “Twinkies in history series” shows how she thinks Charles Darwin and Leonardo da Vinci would have portrayed Twinkies in journals and books. One of her pieces includes the prolific passage, “Twinkies radiate out from the spring St. Louis breeding area to the summer nesting habitats throughout the world. Populations are heaviest in the North American 7-11 meridian.” So is her beloved, possibly extinct Twinkie now just a cultural artifact?

Peppin says that Twinkies will survive into the future, and she could be right. The AP reports that Hostess will announce a bidder for its snack cakes sometime this month. And on Sunday, the news outlet reported that Hostess Brands has hired an investment bank to represent workers and pensioners as the company auctions off its brands. Flower Foods Inc., the maker of Tastykakes, already purchased six of Hostess’s bread brands for $390 million. Regardless of what happens, we want Peppin to do a Twinkie version of American Gothic.

ARTIST’S OBSESSION WITH TWINKIES SPANS 4 DECADES [AP]
Earlier: Tastykakes-Maker Is Buying Hostess Bread Brands: Will Twinkies Be Saved?

Can Fan Art Save Twinkies?