OUT AND ABOUT: Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour

Like so many, Christmas officially begun for me the other day whilst watching TV. Indeed, for the first time this year, I saw Coca-Cola's iconic truck advert roll on to screen. Admittedly, with all the editing, today's advert feels tragically short; however, I still can't help myself being carried away on a festive wave of nostalgia.  

Here's one of the advert's longer versions:

Of course, the appeal of this advert is something shared by many the world over and, mindful of this, Coca-Cola have transformed their truck in to a true marketing sensation. One such example of this is the 'Truck Tour' in which the vehicle stops by select UK destinations for people to come and see it. 

Luckily, one destination is my local town and with the truck stopping by yesterday I popped down as it started to get dark for the full effect. Accompanying the truck were Coca-Cola representatives handing out drinks, a free photo stand for youngsters and singers belting out Christmas tunes, including 'Holidays are coming'. With the town also lit up for Christmas and a few other things going on it was great fun and I'm sure a particularly memorable moment for all the children out with their families.

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took:

BRAND LINKS
Coca-Cola UK Website
Coca-Cola UK Twitter

LIMITED EDITION PRODUCT: Walkers Sensations Thicker Cut Crisps Cheese with Sweet Cranberry

Launching back in 2002, Sensations hit the shelves as Walkers 'posh' crisps. Since then, the likes of the Caramelised Onions and Balsamic Vinegar offering have become a popular feature in the GBD household with a bag or two invariably tucked in to over the festive period. Therefore, when I spotted this limited edition cheese and cranberry combination the other day I was more than intrigued to see how it measured up. 

I was immediately impressed by the packaging's design. I loved the festive-looking curls of green and red circles accenting both the top and bottom of the packet - presumably signifying a cranberry bush. The central graphic burst with colour and, together with the gold-coloured Christmas tree motif, made for a particularly elegant and visually-arresting design. The packaging's reverse also sported a nice design down the left-hand side with graphics picked up from the front and well thought out text complementing the ensemble beautifully. Top marks on this.

As for the crisps themselves, well, unfortunately, this is where the product fell flat on its face for me. In my head, the flavour combination sounded great and, based on past experiences, I expected some good quality flavours; however, to be frank, these tasted like a cheap packet of cheese crisps. Indeed, the cranberry was a bit lost on me and the cheese flavour was rather too reminiscent of Quavers - something you don't want when paying for a more expensive packet of crisps. 

All in all, the packaging's design was top notch but, with a cheap tasting cheese powder flavour, the crisps failed completely to deliver the quality expected of a brand like this. A disappointment.

CHRISTMAS PACKAGING: Colman's Sauce

In another very quick look at some festive packaging doing the rounds, I spotted these lovely traditional designs from iconic brand Colman's. Featuring snow-covered scenery, the mint and seafood sauce artwork directly picks up on the key ingredient whilst the horseradish is a little more subtle. Personally, I'm particularly fond of the mint sauce with its robin but these are all really nice and a welcome sight.

Here's a closer look at these limited edition designs:

BRAND LINKS

Colman's Website

OUT AND ABOUT: Greggs Festive Bake

I was out and about in my local town centre yesterday and just before I hopped in the car to scoot back home I thought I would pop in to Greggs to see what festive offerings they were serving up. Their tasty sounding Christmas wrap was sold out but looking at the counter I was delighted to see their Festive Bake had returned. With Greggs Steak Bake being a guilty pleasure of mine, I remember trying this festive alternative and being really quite taken by it. To that end, I was more than eager to see if this year's version lived up to the memory. 

First off, I should say that the staff member serving me was full of smiles and really made for a warm and welcome experience so top marks go to Greggs Penrith on service. Moreover, in what I thought made for a nice touch, my meal deal cup of tea came in jolly festive cup with a lovely warm red colour scheme. 

As for the bake, its festive paper bag sported a similarly red colour scheme complemented by an amusing Santa beard and hashtag.  Removing the packaging, and barring the dent I made in the top, I thought the product looked great. Indeed, the pastry was beautifully golden with a nice crispy look to it - I actually thought it looked better than the product shot.  

Moving on to the taste, the smell of the sage stuffing was more than apparent and certainly whetted my appetite. Biting in, this smell translated to the palette with the sage bounding through on a glorious wave of creamy sauce punctuated by occasional chunks of meaty chicken breast and sweet bursts of cranberry. Yes, perhaps in an ideal world, I would have liked more chicken and, admittedly, the strips of bacon were a bit lost on me. That said, for the price and the relatively small parcel they're trying to cram all these ingredients in to, Greggs gets top marks from me again on this one. That sage stuffing is a triumph.

Warm, tasty fare that is sure to get you in the festive spirit. Pity it's around for a limited time only.

BRAND LINKS

Greggs Website

Greggs Twitter

Greggs Facebook

CHRISTMAS PACKAGING: Kellogg's Corn Flakes

With Christmas adverts doing the rounds and lots on tempting goodies on shelves, we're fast approaching merry December. Not wanting to miss out on the action, Kellogg's have rolled out some limited edition Christmas packaging for four of its classic offerings. The children's cereals, Frosties, Coco Pops and Rice Krispies, are all bright and fun with their respective mascots donning Santa hats in front of Christmas tree-decorated backgrounds. 

That said, most interesting of all is the more traditional packaging for Corn Flakes given that it completely breaks with the cereal's usual look. A lovely, traditional-looking depiction of Santa by Norman Rockwell features front and centre against a snowy white background. In a couple of other touches, one of the side panels includes the full words to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' and the bottom panel sports a nicely condensed version of the primary graphic. Indeed, the packaging is eye catching, hits the right tone for this most iconic of cereals and links in well with the brand's classic Santa Claus advert - soon to appear on screens I'm sure. Anyway, having picked up a box, here's all the pictures of the design:

BRAND LINKS
Kellogg's UK Website
Kellogg's UK Twitter