An Open Letter to Pepperidge Farms

I was so excited to hear that your company had decided to market TIm Tams here in the US that I immediately told everyone I knew who had any connection to Australia, posted news on my Facebook profile for all the world to see and then rushed out to buy some from my nearest Target. But when I arrived there I was greeted with only an empty shelf where Tim Tams had been and apologetic staff. They told me that they had sold out and there would be no more shipments of Tim Tams to replace them. But it's only the 16th March, you're not meant to stop making them until the end of March!

Where are my Tim Tams, you bastards!?

I asked the stockist to ask his distributor again for Tim Tams and he said he would but he didn't sound too hopeful. Now I'm thinking of driving an hour to Indianapolis to buy out the supply of the nearest SuperTarget.

I think your promotion was a bit too focussed. I only heard about them at the end of the promotional period. If only you'd released them to normal supermarkets I would have noticed them (Target is not the first place people think of when they want cookies). A word of mouth campaign will only work if you give people longer than a few months to learn where they are or if you distribute the product more widely. Still, my Target sold out their supply quite early so I guess you could call that a success.

Please keep Tim Tams as a permanent item! Once Australians have realised that there is a steady supply and that they don't have to hoard them, there'll be no more secrets and they'll start telling their American friends to go out and buy Tim Tams too, then you'll see the sales shoot up. I'm sure they'll end up more popular than plenty of your current niche cookies.

Update - 18th March, 2009
Good news! The grocery manager at Target asked the distributor and will be getting me a few packets of "car-mel" TimTams this Friday (there's no plain chocolate ones left). With the double-pack from Xmas that I still haven't opened, this should last me a while. I won't be driving to Indianapolis for biscuits, although Cindy thought it was a good idea.

Better news! The distributor said that TimTams will be coming back to America in November. Mark your calendars!