The Girl Scouts of the USA was founded in 1912, making the upcoming season of Girl Scout cookies the institution’s 100th Anniversary. To celebrate, those little, loveable, and marketable Girl Scouts are rolling out a brand new cookie for the 2012 season. Shaped like a half-moon, they have an unusual name: Savannah Smiles.
The term is rather historical. It harkens back to the early 1900s, and I can’t actually think of a Girl Scout cookie from the past that was quite so descriptive and relevant in title. According to the New York Daily News, the cookie is meant to be a reminder of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the original Girl Scout troupes, who just so happens to be from Savannah, Georgia.
Though the history behind the cookie is sound, I’m not very optimistic about its chances. The cookie is lemon flavored and then dusted over with powdered sugar. Which means it will be messy, and in direct competition with Lemonades, the cookie with the lemon icing. Beyond that, those little loveable, marketable Girls Scouts are ruthless. Once every few years they discontinue a cookie only to replace it with a gimmicky cookie that is inevitably inferior. I’m still not over the year they took away the round shortbread cookies with the raspberry filling and the little sugar crystals on top. I hope the 100th Anniversary cookie lasts, but it better not try to get between me and my Lemonades.
At least if Savannah Smiles fails, they can always chalk it up to being a special anniversary edition.
