…Hedgehogs. Although Badger jokes about eating hedgehogs, really she is a vegetarian badger, and would not buy a bag of crisps
based on hedgehog content. That is not to say that other, more carnivorous Meles Meles would not base their purchase on hedgehog content, but despite the recent cull reprieve badgers seem to be avoiding shopping centres in general so they are not, perhaps the best market to be aiming at when it comes to breaking out of the recession with new and innovative product ideas.
So, where is this ramble going we hear you cry. Well, if you’re still reading then we will tell you.
According to a recent BBC Report it took six people three and a half hours to rescue a baby hedgehog from a crisp packet. Why so long? Well, apparently the discarded crisp packet had been blown behind some railings, which the rescue teams subsequently had to cut through to break the spikey little fella free. This not only shows the dedication of the rescue teams in Weston Super Mare, but also shows just what trouble you can cause by not disposing of your rubbish correctly. Throw it in the bin, people. Seriously, how hard is it?
Now, obviously we didn’t think that the hedgehog was the original contents of the crisp packet, but in our search for an appropriate image we stumbled upon actual “Hedgehog Crisps”! Well, by stumbled upon we actually mean that one of our most avid fans informed us.
Ben said: “I remember having them when we were kids. They had to stop selling them though because they don’t actually have hedgehog in them and it was false advertising, from what I remember. Can’t remember what the tokens were for either but vaguely remember collecting them. Might’ve been a stuffed toy hedgehog or something.” He also said that this was based on a memory from when he was in primary school, so he could not guarantee how accurate his facts were. Whilst here at Newsnibbles we usually aren’t that bothered about accuracy, we are talking about hedgehogs here, so looked into it marginally further and found this blog.
According to the blogger:
“Back in 1981, here in the UK, Hedgehog Foods Ltd marketed Hedgehog-flavoured crisps! The flavouring used was actually pork fat, and Hedgehog Foods landed up in trouble with the Office of Fair Trading the following year. What happened next? As one website relates it, ‘Bizarrely, a settlement was finally reached when Mr Lewis, of Hedgehog Foods, interviewed gypsies who actually did eat baked hedgehogs, to ascertain the flavour of hedgehogs. Mr Lewis then commissioned a flavourings firm to duplicate the flavour as closely as possible and changed the labels from “hedgehog flavoured” to “hedgehog flavour” and all interests were satisfied!’”
So, there you have it, or something…
