Why Oreo won

Reaction here: www.patreon.com/posts/78567172 Includes the fact that Adolphus Green rode around in a fancy train car called the "Nazu" inspecting Nabisco factories. Which....is weird.

hydrox sounds like cleaning chemicals

I don't know if your research found this, but I'm fairly certain the reason why "Hydrox" is named the way it was, was because how clean food was was an issue at the time. You touched upon this with the cracker barrels. That's why they gave it a chemical-sounding name, to advertise that it was clean food that was safe to eat.

My brother used to cook with hydrox cookies and he would ask everyone to get him some "droxies." The managers told him to stop calling them that because it sounded like drugs and they worked in a show kitchen.

2:45 The Oreo name isn't random. Look at the flower printed on the cookies. It comes from the genus of flowering shrubs in the Laurel family called Ocotea which also includes species that were previously known as Oreodaphne in the past. random history/science fact of the day

“You don’t know ‘bout Crax?! … They got straight up Hydroxxed” made me laugh so so hard for some reason

Surprised you didn't mention that Hydrox literally stopped existing for a while and the only reason you can buy them today is because fans bought the brand name and re-created the recipe

I still have no idea why oreo won, but I’m also drunk

This video was way better than I had assumed. I thought it was going to be about "how good it holds up when dunked in milk" or something like that. This was way more interesting.

I haven't had a HYDROX cookie since probably the early 70s, but as soon as you showed the cookies, I immediately could taste the HYDROX cookie in my mind.... the cookie was just drier, plainer, and harder to bite into. OREOs just gave a better taste experience... and my brain says "they still do!" Thanks Phil; I love joining you on these deep dives into obscure topics. Keep it up!

As I recall with my sometimes faulty memory, we were a Hydrox family because Oreos were made with lard. When Oreos changed its shortening and acquired kosher certification we finally got to taste them. I think you'll find that story is typical of many Jewish families.

Cracker Barrel bit was one of the most interesting part. It would be a great video to do on how a rat feces container became the name of a restaurant chain.

My dad was born in 1918, and he loved Hydrox. In fact, he refused to refer to Oreo’s as anything other than Hydrox.

Phil…the sacrifices you make to produce content for us. Thank you!

Back in the 80s, my mom would only buy Hydrox (made by Sunshine then) because they didn't use transfats and such. So I never ate Oreos as a kid. She was very concerned about what fillers and cheaper filler ingredients even back then.

I've always wanted to try out Hydrox biscuits because I find their story very interesting... But on top of that, I'm now tempted to try the original Nabisco Oreos as well. Oreos in the UK (and some other places like Qatar) are marketed by Mondelez with their own separate branding, and like most confectionaries in the UK, they apparently taste different from their American equivalents. Meanwhile in India Oreos are sold as part of the Cadbury/India brand, and those apparently taste different too. I have sometimes seen both the Nabisco AND Cadbury versions in speciality stores, and I'm probably gonna pick them up next time I see them for some scientific testing.

My grandma always had Hydrox cookies in her pantry. It was a joke in our family about her brand loyalty. The hydrox flavor and crispness (I remember them being a bit crunchier than Oreos) is very nostalgic. That said, I buy Oreos.

So in short, because biscuit equivalent of Nestle has bigger capital than everyone else, thus they win no matter what. Another video in Chinese language I watch earlier also talk about oreo vs hydrox. That video say there is one point comes the decision on market focus. At the start both brand focus on being fancy high table food (thus their flower shape) However at some point advertisement on Oreo starts focus on kids, thus come the slogan twist it, lick it, dunk it. While Hydrox still stick on old fashion fancy cookie that serve in 'high table', so slowly become brand from the past.

We lived in the Milwaukee area in the 1950's and had Johnston cookies. Their Oreo was rectangular and was more of a milk chocolate biscuit. It was called Twilight Dessert. I think that Johnston was driven out of the market by the big national brands like Nabisco and Sunshine. I am sure there were other bakers who succumbed to the Nationals in other parts of the country. They too had broken cookie sales from the back door of their factory. One day a week was broken chocolate cookie day and the other days were for all their other varieties. Chocolate cookie day had cars lined up.

God this content is what I needed. 11:44 minutes and seconds that feels like a full documentary. sniffs oreos