Dannon's Sprinkl'ins Commercial

“Mommy! Can’t I have this?! Pleeeeease!!!”

Having grown up in a health conscious household, ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring have always been the demon that kept my mom from purchasing popular kids snacks. While she never explained why these ingredients were so forbidden, she made it clear that we would never have them at home or at school.

Despite her efforts to shield our family from artificial additives, I desperately desired one particular product and remember incessantly begging my mom for the heavenly “Dannon Sprinkl’ins Yogurt”—the sweetest snack known to kid-kind. Each individual cup of yogurt came with a sealed pouch of rainbow sprinkles under the lid which one could use to playfully decorate and dye their yogurt an unnaturally neon hue. Some packages, such as my personal favorite, “Danimals Vanilla Surprise Sprinkles,” even came with animal shaped sprinkle sets that would not only dye but also enhance the flavor of the sweet treat to include say artificial orange or grape.

Every outing with my mom at the supermarket consisted of me constantly comparing her to all the “cool moms” who actually loved their kids and bought them sprinkl’ins for a school snack. When she’d ignore this harassment, I’d divert my efforts to my younger sister, whom I’d coax to join in my nagging for sprinkl’ins, focusing her argument on the appeal of the package which featured her favorite Disney cartoon character and a puzzle game.

Yet, no matter how hard we protested, my mom absolutely refused to cave in. Instead, she always bought boring plain greek yogurt, which tasted all too similar to sour cream. Regardless, I found ways to secretly consume the forbidden fruit. Snack time was a perfect opportunity to barter and sometimes a naïve kid would fall prey to my trickery, convinced that the choice to swap me my nectarine for their cup of sprinkl’ins was a worthy trade. Boy, did I have ‘em fooled!

I was obsessed. I would even methodically plan sleepovers with friends whose moms bought them sprinkl’ins. When they suggested we have the play-date at my house, I’d always find a way around it, convinced we’d have a better time at their house, especially during meal times.

With age, my fixation with Dannon Sprinkl’ins faded and by now my palate has developed to despise the taste of overly sweetened artificial flavors. I am positive that if I had a Sprinkl’ins yogurt now, I would feel sick and wish I’d stuck with say, a succulent, natural nectarine.