Little Debbie
Little Debbie products are primarily cookie and cake-based dessert snacks. They come in dozens of varieties, including the top-selling Swiss Cake Rolls, Nutty Bars, Fudge Rounds, Cloud Cakes, Cosmic Brownies, Zebra Cakes, and Oatmeal Creme Pies.[10] Little Debbie products are available in most discount, grocery, and convenience stores, both in boxes and as individually wrapped items.
In 1960, company founders O.D. and Ruth McKee decided to name a product after one of their grandchildren, four-year-old Debbie. Now Debbie McKee-Fowler serves as Executive Vice-President and serves on the McKee Foods Board of Directors.[11] The original image of Debbie used on packaging and advertising, which began on August 23, 1960, was based on a black-and-white photo. Full-color portraits of Little Debbie started later in 1960. Artist Pearl Mann of Atlanta created the original color artwork. Following instructions, she made the little girl look older, around 8 or 9.[12] Minor changes were made to the logo in 1985 and again in 2013.[13]
The Little Debbie brand has sponsored NASCAR teams since the 1990s,[14] most notably the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 2006 to 2008.[15] The brand switched to the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team in the 2009 season, after sponsoring both teams in 2008.[16] From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, known as the Sabbath, the Little Debbie logos are covered or removed, and the crew wears non-Little Debbie attire as a condition of sponsorship because McKee Foods was founded and is run by owners who are Seventh-day Adventists.[14][17]
McKee withdrew permission for Little Debbie to appear in the animated movie Foodfight! after learning that the filmmakers planned to depict another character catcalling her.[18]
As of late 2022, the cakes will not be sold in US Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency and Navy Exchange commissaries. McKee has said[19] that the regulatory standards required of McKee Foods are too costly to continue supplying the commissaries.
Also as of late-2022, the cakes will not be sold in Canada. The company said that their only distributor chose to "terminate their business relationship" and McKee was not actively looking for another Canadian distributor.[20]
Drake's
Drake's is a baking company in Wayne, New Jersey. Originally an independent company, Drake's was owned by Hostess from 1998 to 2012;[21] McKee Foods acquired Drake's line when Hostess liquidated in bankruptcy in 2012. The Drake's brand distributes snack cakes such as Ring Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, Funny Bones, and coffee cake. Their mascot is Webster, a smiling drake (a male duck) holding a spoon and wearing a chef's hat and neckerchief.
