I picked up this giant foam finger from the Silly Ice Cream booth at the All Candy Expo last week. Silly Ice Cream is freeze dried ice cream pellets. It tastes like ice cream, looks like the inside of a bean bag and doesn’t melt in your hand, making it possibly one of the coolest inventions since, well, the giant foam finger.
This advertising tool is a classic because of its universal appeal. You can’t help but smile when you look at it and feel a positive sort of envy for people who sport them. As I approached the Silly Ice Cream booth, all I saw was elbows from people grabbing a foam finger to take with them. In fact, I purposely sought out this booth because of the finger. At any show, there’s the wow effect of, “I need that,” and the finger satisfied that role.
Granted, the foam finger does not sell the product, but it is sitting on top of my desk, and I am sure it is livening up the desks and offices of actual buyers and brokers, who went home with these too. It is a constant reminder of the product, which is exactly what the advertiser wants. In my book, this is a great way to advertise.
That’s Laura, in the photo. She was a good enough sport to model the foam finger for me. As a new hire, our new manager of regulatory and technical affairs, she got to start her job at the Expo, which must have been a great way to start off. Best of all, she is still feeling out the social makeup of the office and thus did not have the heart to tell me to get lost when I approached her with the giant foam finger.
The only thing that could make that finger better would be if it were edible, maybe made from licorice or marshmallow. Yum – marshmallow foam finger!
What flavor would you like to see this come in?
1:02 pm on May 28th, 2009
Bacon, of course. Or maybe lemon merengue. My favorite takeaway was the Reese’s headpiece–I scored one on my way off the show floor and was accosted by four different people wondering how I got it.
3:22 pm on May 28th, 2009
Woah. Back up a second. Reese’s headpiece? Would you be so kind as to share a photo or two with our readers?
Bacon? Really? I’m disappointed. How about maple or pomegranate or even circus peanut?
12:15 am on May 29th, 2009
I have suspected that Laura is number one, and now I know for sure!
9:34 am on August 27th, 2009
[...] Laura writes, “I tend to use what I have laying around rather than actually buying specific s’mores materials. Old peeps and Snickers bars make a fine substitute for marshmallows and Hershey bars when you are a grad student.” [...]
3:57 pm on January 19th, 2010
[...] finished with my master’s degree when I started working here. My first day of work was at the candy expo, a welcome change from the 18 years I had spent in school prior to that [...]