Wednesday, 10 June 2015

OLD FAVOURITE: Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits

Browsing the biscuit aisle in a local supermarket with the blog in mind my eyes drifted to an area so positioned as to almost demand that it be overlooked. In this land of biscuit obscurity I spotted a brand pushed right back on the shelf that I hadn't eaten let alone seen for a very long time, Fox's Sports biscuits. Getting them home and quickly researching, the only information I could glean about these little shortcake beauties was that they were invented by a chap called David Glen in 1971. Indeed, with very little background and no advertising to memory these biscuits have seemingly been left to march on all by themselves and, to that end, I thought it was about time they got some attention.      

Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits Packaging

THOUGHTS
Packaging:
Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits Packaging

Employing a red background with a large streak of light blue across it and accents of white, the basic look had a fluid, energetic feel about it that keyed in to the type of designs we've become accustomed to seeing in sports products. Building on this, the product shot was centralised to draw in the eye to the sporting depictions. This imagery worked well with the background: a streak of white lined up with the batsman to signify a ball's trajectory, and a cyclist's wheel connected with an area of red as if it was a road surface. This little interplay between the background and the product shot created a bit depth and added to the overall dynamism of the presentation. As for the 'Sports' brand name, italicisation supported the energetic feel whilst the 'stocky' font spoke of a certain solidness and dependability. 

Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits Packaging - Side

Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits Packaging - Side

The sides condensed the primary elements of the design to reinforce the sports positioning and create an appealing display angle. The little 'quality guarantee' graphic featuring the brand's panda mascot, Vinnie, was a nice touch as it brought a bit of added interest and personality to an area which is usually more of copy and paste job.

Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits Packaging - Underside

The underside offered the usual, no-thrills design. That said, clean lines and use of the same colour scheme brought clarity to the content and reinforced the athletic, sporting connotations of the presentation as a whole.

Biscuits:


Fox's Sports Shortcake Biscuits Packaging - Biscuits and Tea

The biscuits were pretty large but weighed in at a relatively light 8g each. On the looks front, I loved their quaint little border design and embossed sporting depictions. Obviously, the depictions weren't of the quality shown on the packaging; however, they were sufficient to imbue each biscuit with a bit of its own sporting personality. As for their taste, the biscuits gave off a lovely sweet aroma that translated to the palette in a well balanced fashion with the salt and fats included.

SUMMING UP
The packaging did well in bringing together colour scheme, graphics and font to reinforce the key sports theme. Moreover, the interplay between the product shot and background was a nice touch that brought a little bit of depth and added dynamism to the design. The biscuits themselves proved the highlight with their embossed depictions of various sports. Whilst these depictions were not of the quality on the packaging, they effectively imbued each biscuit with a bit of its own personality. Taste-wise, the flavour balanced out the sweetness in the flour mix well with salt and fat to create a lovely, well rounded offering. Indeed, it may be a simple proposition but it did the simple things well and with charm - something that will always be a winning combination in my books.

BRAND LINKS

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