My girly, glittery-pink, sweet, free Fling - Tasty but not too tasty

[rworange]

I cashed in my free coupon for a Mars Fling.

You know ,,, the one with that commercial suggesting orgasmic bliss ... then cut to the woman sitting alone eating a Fling ... "naughty but not too naughty".

The chocolate is sort of like that ... just a tease.

Brief Andy Rooney moment: Why does she need to go in a dressing room take off her shoes and dress to sit in her slip eating a chocolate?

The best description of what it tastes like was from this blog
http://gigi-reviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/fling-milk-chocolate.html

"It has this weird reek of trying to hard to be sexy when really it's mediocre looking and only ok.... You know those girls who are not pretty enough to completely coast on their looks but at the same time they weren't ugly enough to have to develop a good personality? this is the chocolate version of that girl"

It is a Twix type of stick... with that sort of waxy chocolate coating. Inside there is a layer of meringue which gives it crunch and on top of that the 'truffle' ... the type of truffle that could be made by Russell Stover or Whitman's.

Another review mentioned it is covered in pink glitter ... .
http://www.chocolateobsession.com/2009/06/review_milk_chocolate_fling.htm

"The pink on the package carries over to the bar with pink sparklies all over the thing. On the top of the bar it's subtle and you almost have to look for it. On the bottom it's super pink sparkle town or something."

I'll say subtle. I need glasses when my eyes tire out. I put my glasses on. I squinted. I took out my strongest glasses and squinted some more ... yep, it does have shimmery pink sparkles ... actually it is covered with mica
http://www.flingchocolate.com/faq.htm#que3

"What makes FLING™ Chocolate shimmer?

Fairy dust. Just kidding. The shimmer is actually an FDA approved mineral called Mica, that shimmers and is used occasionally by specialty chocolatiers to add a unique and attractive sparkle to gourmet chocolate?"

The whole marketing is like that.
http://www.flingchocolate.com/about.htm

It is just ok. Like many items promising lower fat, it compensates by being way too sweet. That's all you can really taste While the meringue is nice, the rest is just a sort of weird texture. It turns cottony when chewed.

To its credit:
- it is Kosher
- it doesn't have a whole lot of junk in it ... real sugar ... but what the heck is PGPR

As far as calories ... it is 85 per stick ... or 170 per package.
http://www.flingchocolate.com/milk_chocolate.htm

For 170 calories, I'd prefer 7 Hershey kisses to two forgetable Flings.
http://caloriecount.about.com/calorie...

[alixium]

Unfortunately (?) for many of us, Fling is only available "at select retail stores across California"...

[meatn3]

Thanks for another great reconnaissance mission. I appreciate the calories you are saving me from!

A truly bizarre marketing approach. I really think most of the pink stuff sold is purchased because of breast cancer research tie-ins. I don't think I actually know a female over the age of 10 that is that in to pink, unless they sell Mary Kay.

[nofunlatte]

PGPR is some sort of emulsifier.

Heck for 170 calories, you can eat a Luna Bar and get some vitamins.

[rworange]

The Mother Jones review says it has "Vitamin S (for Sparkle) "

Actually, it is more calorie dense than other supermarket chocolates according to this blog
http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/fling/

"The caloric density is actually higher than most other candy bars on the market at 153 calories per ounce ... just a smaller portion. Twix, which is their own product and perhaps the target audience for this is only 140 calories per ounce, 3Musketeers is about 125, KitKat is about 150. The big difference here is that it doesn’t look small."

That review is really good. It descirbes all three flavors with the dark chocolate being the best choice ... and no PGPR in that one. Too bad athey only sell that flavor in boxes of 10.

It says the packaging seems similar to tampons and there are links to other reviews. The Mother Jones review is hilarious
http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009...

"The hot pink press packet that arrived at the office promised that "Your boyfriend doesn't need to know." What doesn't your boyfriend need to know? Well, that you eat chocolate, of course. That's between you and your "chocolate finger," as the marketing copy termed the two Twix-like bars"

Seriously, they need to change the marketing campaign. It can't be written by a woman ... or anyone who knows a woman. It reads like something a 12 year old boy would write.

[rworange]

Well, according to one of the blogs, the boxes with 10 single-wrapped flings look like tampons ... which are also sold in multiples of 10. Appetizing. Is the discreet packaging meant to discourage your boyfriend from finding your candy.

The Mother Jones comments are as funny as the article. One comment was that this product should be great for bulemics. It is marketed to make a woman eating chocolate in public as shameful as to having sex in public But fortunately there is Fling and you can shove a low calorie' chocolate finger down your throat.

This product is like Pretty Woman playing with My Little Pony.

There are all sorts of way to get attention for a product ... this may get this product some ... exposure ... but not in a good way.

The free coupons were a good idea. I may not have actually paid for one of these because it is way too sweet for me. But I did like the meringue with the bit of maltiness ... like malted milk balls ... jeez, everything about this seems suggestive.

Anyway, I might have tried other flavors. While it is hard to get angry at a product sold so stupidly, it is also a real turn off in terms of spending money to try another flavor.