Not exactly the happiest bag on Earth.
In Japan, long-established confectionery chain Ginza Cozy Corner is a household name, with people all over the land turning to them for delicious, cute baked goods throughout the year.
The demand for Cozy Corner’s offerings peaks around New Year’s, though, when the chain releases its annual lucky bags, filled with treats worth more than what you pay for. We’ve been one of many customers indulging in their lucky bags year after year, but this year’s bag was…a little different, and here’s why.
The “Disney New Year’s Sweets Bag” retailed for 1,080 yen (US$8.08) and contained the following items:
▼ Four butter madeleines
▼ Two strawberry madeleines
▼ Two “baked chocolates”
▼ And four Mickey Mouse pattern cookies
That comes to a total of 12 items, covering five different types of products. Now, the reason why we’re a little disappointed with the bag is because…well, three years ago we paid the same amount for a lucky bag at the chain, and we received the following items:
An extra two strawberry madeleines
Sure, it’s a small thing, but when lucky bags are all about feeling lucky with the amount of savings you receive, we couldn’t help but feel we’d been duped of 178 yen, which is roughly the price of two madeleines.
Still, that’s something we could forgive, given the rising costs of raw materials, but when we look at another lucky bag they offered this year for the same price, called the “New Year’s Fun Bag” without the “Disney” name attached to it, this is what it contains:
▼ Twice the amount of items, for the same amount of money.
The image above was taken last year, in the Year of the Tiger, but this year’s New Year’s Fun Bag contained exactly the same items, only with a rabbit on the cookies on the right instead of a tiger.
Which bag would you rather receive for 1,080 yen?
Personally, we’d prefer to receive the bag with 24 items instead of 12. Even Disney fans would have a hard time justifying the difference, unless they really wanted to sacrifice sweets for the sake of a branded tote bag.
Call us a sucker for sweets, but the lack of treats in the Disney bag left us feeling duped, and now we’re questioning whether or not we’ll invest in a Cozy Corner bag next year. With so many competitors like Mister Donut offering vouchers that cover the cost of the bag while giving us free merch to boot, Cozy Corner will have to up their game next year.
Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]