• NPR Morning Edition , Thursday, December 11, 2008 11 AM

If I really, really, really want to be bad, I'll buy me a package of Hostess cupcakes. Maybe your weakness is Twinkies. Or a few slabs of Oscar Mayer bologna on Wonder Bread. They were the best comfort foods to be had in the decades before people called anything "comfort food."

And I'll tell you what. I really did believe that Wonder Bread helped to "build strong bodies in 12 ways."

Morning Edition's Laura Ziegler reports that Interstate Bakeries, which makes the brands, has emerged from bankruptcy after four years. But it faces a tough battle in convincing wised-up consumers that all those preservatives and processed white flour that made the brands so yummy are good for kids today.

Interstate Bakeries has offered whole grain Wonder Bread and Twinkies with no trans fat, but it may be too little too late. "When a brand idea becomes expired or consumers no longer see the brand as the best option, it's very difficult, if not impossible, for advertising to convince consumers otherwise," says Brad Hanna of Barkley advertising in Kansas City.

Read the whole story at NPR Morning Edition »