Nutella Nation

When we were kids growing up in the 80's, sugar was the enemy of "moms everywhere". There were good cereals (boring and plain) and bad cereals (an ongoing negotiation, which in my house ended with Alpha bits- sugar but no marshmallows or colours not found in nature). Moms had to have had it easier than- there are far too many choices now (ask anyone with anxiety-there is such a thing as too much choice). In those days there was peanut butter, thought to be a healthy choice, and the widely coveted but never purchased in my life Nutella, who's manufacturers would tell you is a creamy hazelnut spread- audaciously suggesting it's a little more "European" and highbrow than peanut butter - but is, to the naked eye, of all things, chocolate spread.

Such was my mother's well intentioned shunning of this product that when I look at it now, I actually feel queasy. I developed the snobbery of the self-deluded outsider, imagining that this product is only found in trailer park homes of neglected kids and is always shoplifted while buying grandma cigarettes and lotto.

My only real life experience comes from stories of a friend and my ex-roomate (who fit the above description in many ways, though we did not live in a trailer!) and her sexual exploits, which really added nothing to my chances of being a Nutella consumer.

A recent commerical for (how does it still exist) Nutella is a marvel. ZERO trans fat! 36 delicious hazelnuts per jar! My god, this company had the deck stacked against it in the 80's, before there was food product labelling, widely sold organic foods, and most people with buying power pretty much ate whatever the hell they wanted. How on earth have they survived- and if having TV commercials is an indication- thrived? It makes me wonder about the most sinister of connotations. Are they a side product of a major arms dealing conglomerate? Does the mob have a piece? And where do you stand on the emotional scale when you look at pictures like this?

a) I wanna vom

b) I wanna buy some

c) That reminds me of my last date

d) other?