This Week: Stocking up on American snacks
Hostess cupcakes. Jell-O. Marshmallow fluff.
To most Americans, these brand-name snacks line the shelves in every corner store. But to the French, they’re highly sought-after products brought home by friends and family who’ve traveled abroad, and increasingly, ordered from the web.
That’s what inspired one of BuzzFeed France editor Pierre Michonneau’s latest post These 18 American Snack Foods Are So Great That French People Are Literally Ordering Them Online.
According to Pierre, “In France, most of the time we use Amazon for ordering books (or movies and games), not really for food. We know that these American products exist, but the only solution we had was asking friends who are going to the US or expats who are coming back to France. Then I thought, hey, there is a grocery section on Amazon that we don't think about.”
After crowdsourcing French Twitter users about hard-to-find American products, Pierre compiled a list of foods that were all available to purchase online, from either Amazon or a website called myamericanmarket.com, which ships you anything from Betty Crocker mix to Butterfinger within 48 hours anywhere in France.
Pierre himself likes to use Amazon to sample American snacks he’s curious about — like Lucky Charms, which he now orders in bulk.
“It's always exciting to try American snacks because it is very ‘exotic’ for us. Tastes are very different, with things that we don't often find in French products like peanut butter,” Pierre says of the fascination. “I think we are just curious of tasting snacks that American love and that we don't even have. We want to understand why you like it. Sometimes we like it too. Sometimes not.”
Read Pierre’s original post in in French here.
Plus — we asked a few international BuzzFeeders about their fave American snacks, and here’s what they said:
“Vitamin Water, Arizona Tea, Pop-tarts, and beef jerkey.”
— Saba MBoundza // BuzzFeed Germany.
“Any Costco brand. Whenever my parents visit the States, they always make a trip to get their Kirkland Signature matcha tea bags.”
—Matt Ortile // BuzzFeed Philippines
“Snickers aren’t super popular. They made some mistakes on their marketing strategies here (sexist advertisements), but M&M’s are super popular.”
— Luísa Pessoa // BuzzFeed Brazil
“I definitely take Stumptown coffee with me from here. In Pakistan, they only really have Nescafe and Lavazza.”
— Zainab Shah / BuzzFeed International
International Hits:
In Brazil — A good sex scene can be hard (heh) to find; good thing we rounded up 18 movies with the best ones for ya (Portuguese here).
In Canada — There’s a tiny chance Spider-Man is who’s responsible for this car dangling from a bridge, right?
In Germany — Will this summer be romantic, relaxing, or life-changing for you? Order some food & find out! (German here)
In Spain — Think you’ve got good table manners? Prove it! (Spanish here)
In France — Supposedly only true Europeans can ace this food quiz, so of course, it’s doing quite well in French.
In India — This essay from a victim of voyeurism adds an important angle to the #MeToo convo.
In Japan — And this post about people getting sweet, sweet revenge is also going viral abroad after it was translated to Japanese.
In Mexico — If places like Arendelle, Westeros, and Pallet Town mean something to you, you’ll ace this fictional worlds quiz (Spanish here).
In the Philippines — Is it really a meal if there’s no rice? & other questions that Filipinos have for Americans.
In the UK — Back to food. If you were a British food, would you be more of a scotch egg or a sausage roll?
Recommended Reading:
A thread of Chinese internet nicknames for NBA players. China is crazy for the NBA, but official sources use boring phonetic transcriptions, failing to take advantage of Chinese characters having both sound and meaning. Chinese netizens have "improved" on these official names.
This Twitter thread from historian Nick Kapur, on the delightful ways that basketball-obsessed Chinese netizens have unofficially translated NBA players' names. Can you guess which players they've dubbed "The Elementary School Student" and "Schoolbag Du"?
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