Ding Dong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Ding Dong is a chocolate snack cake sold in the United States under the Hostess brand name, which is owned by Interstate Bakeries Corporation. The snack was originally known in the Eastern United States as a King Dong and later a King Don. In some areas it was marketed as a Big Wheel.
The chocolate cake is round with a flat top and bottom, similar in shape to a hockey puck. It is about two inches in diameter and a little more than an inch high. A white cream filling is injected into the center, and a thin coating of chocolate glaze covers the entire cake. The cake was originally wrapped in a square of thick aluminum foil, enabling it to be carried in lunches without melting the chocolate glaze.
[edit] History and naming
The Ding Dong was first marketed by Hostess in 1967. The name was given to coincide with a television ad campaign featuring a ringing bell.[1] The company marketed the snacks on the East Coast as Big Wheels, to avoid confusion with the Ring Ding, a similar (and pre-existing) treat by Drake's Cakes. The names were consolidated in 1987, when a short-lived merger of Drake's with Hostess' parent company (then Continental Baking Company) briefly resolved the Ring Ding/Ding Dong conflict. When the merged company broke up, however, Hostess was forced to cease, once again, using the Ding Dongs name in areas where Ping Pongs were available. The compromise sound-alike name King Dons lasted until Interstate Bakeries Corporation, which had recently merged with Hostess' parent company, bought Drake's in 1998. The Hostess product is now sold under the name Ding Dongs throughout the United States. However, the snack is still sold as the King Don in Canada.
Hostess created the "King Ding Dong" cartoon character to advertise the Ding Dong: an anthropomorphized Ding Dong sporting a crown and sceptre. He was similar to other Hostess characters Twinkie the Kid and Fruit Pie the Magician. In the western secondary market selling King Dons, the character was, like the product, known as King Don. In areas that used the "Big Wheel" name, the character was an Indian chief named "Chief Big Wheel".
[edit] Ding Dongs in popular culture
Ding Dongs have been mentioned in television shows like CHiPs, The Big Bang Theory, ER, Arrested Development, 'Six Feet Under' and Damages. In the 2007 movie, Transformers where on Air Force One the president (believed to be George W. Bush, although he is not seen) asks for some Ding Dongs. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling recently included the food in a storyline in which a the tag team, Team 3Dchier, demanded twelve cases of Ding Dongs in exchange of a hostage.
