Today, the cookie sandwich known as the Oreo turns one-hundred years old, and for the millions who routinely enjoy its near-perfect and seemingly un-screw-upable taste (I prefer the Double Stuf variety straight from my freezer), it's just as awesome today as it was on March 6, 1912, when the company was founded in Chelsea, New York City.
How to celebrate a century of goodness? The brand's owner, Kraft Foods, is going all out with a worldwide campaign that includes a limited-edition birthday cake flavor, its own website and Facebook page, and seven surprise flash-mob-style celebrations -- one of which is right here in Phoenix.
The surprise celebration in honor of Oreo's 100th birthday will take place at 11:50 a.m., today, Tuesday, March 6, at Patriots Square at Central and Washington in Central Phoenix.
Inviting kids of all ages to join the fun and "celebrate the kid inside," the party will include locals participating in a surprise Oreo 100th flash-mob style birthday party (whatever the hell that means), an "Oreo Man" costumed character (potentially creepy), Oreo-themed games, and, of course, Oreos, Oreos, and more Oreos.
Those unable to attend the 100th birthday celebration can pick up a package of limited-edition Birthday Cake Oreos (twenty per package) at their local grocery store or wherever mass-market cookies are sold. How do they taste? The Onion A.V. Club describes the flavor as ranging from, "This Oreo tastes a lot like being stoned," to "It smells kind of like birthday cake, but it mostly tastes like a normal Oreo," to "All it's missing is candle wax and my kid's spittle."
Of course there's an online component as well. There's a website with Oreo recipes, games, and a place for folks to upload their favorite Oreo photos (currently a lot of babies with cookie smears on their faces) and a Facebook page where the brand has more than 25 million "likes."
None of which will probably change anyone's mind about the awesomeness of Oreos, but nice gestures anyway, and ones that remind us of just how long the legendary cookies have been a part of our lives.
