There are some snacks that just signify childhood, and Goldfish is a gold star member of that group. As a parent, who hasn’t packed those poppable fish-shaped snacks in their child’s lunchbox? So when Pepperidge Farm announced that it was switching up the name from Goldfish to (get this) Chilean Sea Bass, the Internet had…thoughts.
I mean, no offense to the delish fish, but Chilean Sea Bass doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like Goldfish does. So why in the heck did Pepperidge Farm decide to take a beloved snack and reintroduce it with an entrée name? The company apparently wants to appeal to adult snackers and reinforce the fact that Goldfish isn’t just for kids, but kids at heart.
Seeking an adult audience for a kid-centric audience might make sense for some brands, but Goldfish? Not so much. Pretty much any parent who purchases Goldfish for their fam is also grabbing and eating them, too. Still, Goldfish posted the rebranded product on Instagram and wrote:
“It’s come to our attention that some people think Goldfish are just for kids. To them we say…introducing Chilean Sea Bass.” The post is accompanied by the new packaging featuring the beloved Goldfish. The headline reads: “NEW adult-sounding name. SAME Goldfish taste.”
I get that broadening the appeal of Goldfish to people of all ages makes sense, especially since the snack is synonymous with the eating habits of the elementary school set. (I literally packed some Goldfish into my kids’ lunchboxes this morning.) But marketing Goldfish as Chilean Sea Bass is a bit misleading, since some consumers might expect the snack to actually taste like the flaky fish. For those, it might be a bit of a letdown when they sample Goldfish only to realize that it tastes like, well, Goldfish.
No matter if you embrace the new name or are firmly Team Goldfish, you’ll need to fish for these newly renamed snacks. They’re only being sold online and only for one week. (But good luck, because as of this writing, they’re completely sold out for today.)
Thankfully, you’ll still be able to find the beloved Goldfish we all know and love fully stocked on store shelves — and probably at the bottom of your child’s diaper bag, too.