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Welcome to today’s Tastykake Face-Off, where Philadelphia’s hometown hero snack product goes up against the competition in a fight for top snack bragging rights. The winner will be carefully selected via analysis of several key criteria discussed below. Today, a mysterious stranger from the South has entered the ring: The Banana Flavor MoonPie. With no comparable banana flavored Tastykake available, the scope of the match-up will be expanded to include “tropical fruit,” and thus, the Coconut Junior will represent Tastykake in this match. Let’s get it started…

1) Packaging: Sporting a similar motif to the Tastykake Brownie and the Tastykake Chocolate Cupcakes, the Coconut Junior is wrapped in the familiar light blue/dark blue plastic with see-through mid-section. The Tastykake logo is in the upper-left, and the words “COCONUT JUNIOR” and “Yellow Layer Cake” appear in the bottom-right. The MoonPie comes in a clear, square plastic wrapper. The primary decoration is a circular white moon in the center, the bottom of which is taken up by an anthropomorphic yellow crescent moon in profile. The word (words?) MoonPie is written across the white part of the moon in a blue font outlined in yellow. Below that, a yellow banner proclaims, “Banana Flavor.” At the very top of the package it says “Double Decker” outlined in red. The perimeter is clear so you can see the MoonPie inside and verify that it actually is a double decker. These packages are similar in concept: Basic and old-school, but effectively catch the customer’s attention. This round is a draw.

2) Price: The Coconut Junior retails for $1.39, but the MoonPie was purchased at the bargain-basement price of 59 cents. The MoonPie takes this round decisively.

3) Appearance: The Coconut Junior is a rectangular yellow cake topped off with white icing and a generous amount of shredded coconut. There is also an additional layer of icing in the middle. The MoonPie is covered in a thin layer of banana flavored glaze the shade of orange-yellow, not at all like the color of a banana. Inside are three dense layers of what the MoonPie website claims are graham cookies. They taste like graham crackers, but have the appearance of a crumbly white cake. Separating the grahams are two layers of marshmallow. Both the MoonPie and the Coconut Junior look appealing, but the Tastykake takes this round because the MoonPie’s color is too artificial-looking.

4) Taste: The Tastykake is perfectly moist and light, much like a Krimpet. The coconut adds a nice texture to the icing; the only real downside is that it’s a bit sticky. The glazed MoonPie doesn’t have that problem, as its marshmallow is safely on the inside. The graham cookies are moist, and the whole thing is dense and gooey-chewey, the total opposite of the Coconut Junior. This round is too close to call: They’re both winners in the taste department.

5) Nutrition: The Tastykake weighs in at 94 grams versus the MoonPie’s 78 grams. Unfortunately for the Tastykake, it contains 28% of your recommended daily intake of fat at 44% of saturated fat. The MoonPie only has 11% of your daily fat and 27% of your saturated fat. Plus, the MoonPie has no cholesterol and the Tastykake has 20% of your daily recommendation. MoonPie takes this round hands-down.

Victory: MoonPie. The Mouth(full) from the South, MoonPie, is the winner today. While both snacks are deliciously satisfying, the Tastykake is comparatively unhealthy and expensive, leaving the anthropomorphic moon to wax victoriously on the MoonPie package, smiling contentedly.

BTW: Snack food competitions are becoming a big deal! SnackBracket.com is doing a bracket system to determine which is their favorite snack cake, and they have Tastykakes in the running! Catch their videos here.