Friday, March 17, 2017

St. Patrick's dough.

Dunkin' Donuts has dropped the ball on St. Patrick's Day this year. 

Seriously, with all the seasonal doughnuts they make (including the bizarre Winter flavored doughnuts I noted in January), it's surprising that all they've done is one chocolate-frosted doughnut with a small fraction of shamrock sprinkles. 

Always after me lucky charms.
As I think of it, though, a lot of outfits that make hay out of holidays don't do anything for this one. Sure, McDonald's has Shamrock Shakes, but who else? There are bags of green M&M's but they don't make a holiday themed bag. There's no Reese's Shamrock. No St. Peeptrick. Sure, Google did a doodle, but you can't eat it.

I guess there are some understandable reasons for this sugar-shunning of St. Patrick's:

1) It's an ethnic holiday. Popular and universally celebrated in the States as it is, important as it is for the Catholic and universal church, it's always been a big day for the Irish people. (You may say Duh!, but remember, it's about a non-Irish-born saint, not the people he spent his life saving.)

2) And on that note, it's a religious holiday. No Jesus, no St. Patrick.

3) And it's also sometimes a political holiday, yes. The Irish have always used it to tweak the noses of people they don't like -- that is, the British -- even though Patrick was himself born in Britain.

These are the kinds of things that turn secular candy and baked goods companies off holidays. So I guess we'll have to eat corned beef and drink green beer. Or we could drink Shamrock Shakes and eat Lucky Charms. The sugar high might actually leave us with a case of the shamrock shakes, actually.

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