NEW PRODUCTS: Burton's Fish 'n' Chips Brown and Red Sauce

Brown sauce or red sauce? It's a divisive question with many Brits firmly falling on one side or the other. Personally, forced to choose, I would have to go with brown sauce; however, I do appreciate both - you certainly wouldn't catch me eating a fish finger sandwich without the liberal application of ketchup. To that end, I've kept an open mind about Burton's new Fish 'n' Chips products which pitch these two mighty accompaniments against one another in savoury biscuit form.

Adorned in the brand's classic 80's newspaper-inspired livery, I'll get straight to it and say that these look great. Opening the multi-pack reveals five very sweet, miniature packets - somewhat evocative of the old Mini Cheddars bags in size. Whilst, thanks to that newspaper design, the packaging artwork is full of the charm and interest that made this brand so memorable in the first place. As for the look of the snacks themselves, they're fun too with the biscuits sporting rudimentary yet effective fish and chip forms. Brilliant stuff that speaks for itself.

Taste-wise, the base snack sports a reasonably thick frame with a light biscuit texture that's pretty distinctive. With regards to the brown sauce flavour, the key ingredient is prominent with a definite taste of vinegar bounding through to ensure the snack can't be accused of blandness. Given its acidity, I can't say it's the brown sauce flavour I'm most accustomed to, that is, HP or Daddies Sauce; however, it's consistent with other brands I've tried in the past.

Moving on to the tomato ketchup variant, once again, this flavour isn't on the fence with tomato very much identifiable. That said, yet again, I can't say the flavour is totally reminiscent of the sauce I'm most used to, Heinz ketchup. Indeed, the tomato in these biscuits is actually less synthetic tasting with much more of the vegetable's flavour coming through. 

So which flavour did I like best and why? Well, I have to give it to brown sauce on this occasion. Whilst both products could have benefited from a touch of sweetness in my book, the tomato one was just a bit to tomatoey for my palate. 

Overall, these look superb and I'm impressed how Burton's have incorporated the flavour of the sauces so distinctly. For those that like a vinegary twang and/or a reasonably natural tasting tomato snack, I think these will be a particular winner. Oh, and if you do pick them up, be sure to vote for your favourite flavour on the brand's Facebook page - there's a chance of winning £10,000. 

BRAND LINKS

Burton's Website - Fish 'n' Chips Page

Burton's Fish 'n' Chips Facebook

Burton's Fish 'n' Chips Twitter

RETRO REVIVAL: McVitie's Trio

Big blast from the past time. Trio, a marriage of biscuit, toffee and chocolate originally manufactured by Jacob's, once again graces store shelves! The revival has come as a result of McVitie's - present owner of the Jacob's brand - giving in to what it described as "massive consumer demand". That said, it's only a limited edition return for this cult classic so I was keen to try it out to see if the 2016 version is worth stocking up on. 

Presentation-wise, the multi-pack design is instantly recognisable as it borrows straight from the late 80's/90's look. Indeed, the brand name typeface directly picks up on the advertising from yesteryear in which an animated girl called Suzy would shout 'Trio' repeatedly - if you're not familiar with this, see the end of this post. To be honest, on today's shelves the design still works really well with the loud presentation feeling sufficiently differentiated amongst the mass of competing offerings. 

Moving on to the design of the individual bars, the artwork condenses down really neatly and I am delighted by the use of paper. On the latter point, I've written about this before, but, generally, I really dislike brands use of plastic as the go-to option. I say this purely on aesthetic grounds as, for me, plastic just signals cheapness and mass production. On the other hand, glass, foil, paper, card etc generally make a product feel a bit more special and cared for - even if that isn't the case at all.

As for the look of the bar itself, there's no lack of character as it harks back to the original with three segments sporting an embossed 'Trio' brand name.

Taste-wise, I'm very glad to say the 2016 Trio hits the spot. Expecting an overly hefty dose of sugar to overwhelm the palate, I was delighted to find they've been pretty restrained. Indeed, the biscuit layer is really quite plain and the chocolate boasts nice milky, cocoa flavours rather than pure sweetness. All of this provides perfect support for the sweeter toffee cream layer creating a balanced and rather tasty offering.

In summary, these bars are a great throw back with a few modern temptations pleasingly avoided. Moreover, the bars taste great with all three layers adding something different whilst complementing one another. These get a definite GBD thumbs up from me. 

Oh, and on the advertising front it's worth mentioning that McVitie's are currently looking for people to feature in the bar's new ad. If you're interested, see here - you'll need to scroll down the page for details. That aside, this wouldn't be a retro revival post without indulging in some advertising nostalgia...

BRAND LINKS
McVitie's Website
McVitie's Twitter
United Biscuits Website - McVitie's Page

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Country Life Buttermen

An ad now from the early 80's featuring the Buttermen, Country Life Butter's jolly group of butter-based mascots. Starring in a string of ads throughout the decade, the Buttermen were full of charm and had a great tune that very effectively got the brand's slogan, "You'll never put a better bit of butter on your knife", dancing around people's head. 

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Jacob's Trio

Here's a quick 80's blast of nostalgia featuring the sadly discontinued Trio bar from brand icon Jacob's. 

NOSTALGIA HIT: Last Rolo

Here's a couple of ads for Rolo based around the brand's famous line, 'Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rolo?'. The first one is a very charming animation whilst the second is a very funny ad featuring none other than Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Enjoy.

NOSTALGIA HIT: Weetos

I love going through the decades and seeing how the advertising changes, therefore, I thought I would begin this morning with 3 decades in 3 ads for the Weetabix-owned breakfast cereal Weetos. From the fun animations of Derek and Professor Weeto in the 80's and 90's respectively to the 00's buffed-up wholegrain cereal mascot keeping physically active in the kitchen, you can certainly see the changes.

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Lyons Quickbrew Tea 'Giles' Ads

Back in the 80's Lyon's Quickbrew Tea - now owned by Tetley Tea - produced the following animated adverts, which were notable for employing the artwork of famous British newspaper cartoonist, Carl Giles. 

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Mars 'A Mars a day help you work, rest and play'

After yesterday's Galaxy ad and its 'interesting' portrayal of the bar, I thought I would share this 80's ad for Mars which can be summed up ten seconds in by the line, 'all the goodness that's in a Mars...milk, sugar, glucose and thick, thick chocolate'. Got to love them for trying!

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Weetabix

Following on from yesterday's wonderful animations for Heinz, I thought I would post this fun little animation from Weetabix. Very 80's in stylisation with fantastic use of colour amidst the dark backdrop, this ad features the brand's cereal-shaped mascots, the Neet Weet Gang.

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Heinz Baked Beans

Kicking off the weekend are some absolutely stunning adverts for Heinz Baked Beans that feature the work of master animator, Eric Goldberg. The characters are full of expression and the hand-painted cells give the artwork a magic in warmth, depth and texture that today's digital inks, as handy as they are, struggle to conjure. Enjoy.

NOSTALGIA HIT: 80's Vitalite

Wake up in the morning wanting some breakfast, what am I going to spread on my toast? Vitalite, of course! Admittedly, I don't think I ever actually bought this product but the following 80's advert has certainly stayed with me and, to this day, makes me smile...