A sucker for advertising

[pne]

There's this new biscuit that's come out recently, with a long, thin biscuit coated in milk chocolate except for a small bit at one end to pick it up by.

I had seen advertising for it at various bus stops, with the chocolate-free bit at the end labelled "Haltestelle".

That pun made it nearly irresistible for me to buy a packet of them when I went shopping today.

("Halten" in German is not only "to hold" but can also mean "to stand still", at least for vehicles such as cars and busses; compare "Hold it right there!" in English. So "Haltestelle" is primarily "bus stop" [i.e. places where busses stand still] but, in the advertisements, meant "place for holding [the biscuit]".)

Comments

[hidden-kitten.livejournal.com]

YOU GOT POCKY!!! MMMMMMMM send me some; all the store around me stopped selling it D:
Is it a red box-like package? Mmmmm pocky.

[pne.livejournal.com]

No, not pocky, though I also happened to buy some of that today :)

They're "Bahlsen Choco Sticks": about 10 cm long by 2 cm wide by 0.5 cm high, like narrow versions of the extremely popular (in Germany) Bahlsen butter biscuits.

Go to http://www.leibniz.de/, then click on "Produkte", "Leibniz Choco Sticks", "Choco Sticks Special", watch the intro, then on "Entdecken".

Germany's version of Pocky is called "Mikado": http://www.griesson-debeukelaer.de/wms/griesson/page_frame.php3?ci=1131&language=1 or http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=De+Beukelaer+Mikado

I never knew that others knew it as "pocky" (or even that it was a licensed version of a Japanese snack) until I started volunteering in LiveJournal support several years ago and saw people talking about pocky, and finally someone pointed me to an image. But when I found out, I had a look at the packaging and saw the "Glico" mark as well on the box as the main "De Beukelaer" one, and saw that "Mikado is produced under licence of Ezaki Glico Co. Ltd Japan".

Mikado!

[rozallin.livejournal.com]

I love Mikado - I always get some when I'm over in France (or, send others to France to get it for me). They do a caramel version which is really nice. I thought this /was/ pocky though - could you enlighten me as to what the difference is?

Re: Mikado!

[pne.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, Mikado /is/ pocky, just with a different brand name in Germany (and, it appears, France).

What made you think there was a difference?

Perhaps it was confusing that I spoke about two different things in my comment - Bahlsen Choco Sticks (what I mentioned in my entry, and what hidden_kitten thought was pocky from my description) on the one hand, and Mikado on the other hand?

Re: Mikado!

[rozallin.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was how I got mixed up. I was skimming the comments on this entry rather than reading them.

[pne.livejournal.com]

If you want, though, I could seriously send you some, if we can figure out something about the cost.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Oh, and in Germany they only have milk chocolate and dark chocolate as coverings, no strawberry etc.

[hidden-kitten.livejournal.com]

Nah, they are sold at an Asian food store around the corner fromme, apparently. I'll go there and grab some. But thanks :)

[bluewingedcat.livejournal.com]

Dammit... now I'm going to have to stop by Uwajimaya and get some pocky. Damn you and your foul temptations! :P

[pne.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, pocky!

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I can't get pocky in downtown Atlanta, and I can't get out to Gwinnett to buy any either. :( Curses!

(Oh well, that stuff is terrible for you anyway. I'll just have some boba at work instead.)

[miaa.livejournal.com]

A German from Hamburg! I love Germany and Hamburg is amazing. Altona is great. And you also tell people what "Halt" really mean. I love the German language and I speak German although I am Norwegian.

[elgrande.livejournal.com]

""Halten" in German is not only "to hold" but can also mean "to stand still","

I find it interesting that in English you have "halt" and "hold" and both look as if they were somehow related to "halten".

[fridoline.livejournal.com]

And do you like the Choco Sticks? I have seen them, but I wondered if they were really worth trying. Are they similar to Choco Leibnitz?

[pne.livejournal.com]

I like them well enough, but whether they're worth their price is up to you :)

You can probably get something similar more cheaply, just with a different shape.

I think the chocolate is slightly softer than on the Choco Leibnitz, but otherwise, the idea is pretty similar (chocolate-covered Leibnitz butter biscuits).