Ülker Halley

I've read that the University of California once tracked 30,000 purchases made by 4,200 U.S. customers over a short period and calculated that 68 percent of their purchases were unplanned. Impulse buys, in other words. I haven't see the original research, and I don't even have a citation for that figure, but it sounds all too likely. Impulse is an essential part of the shopping experience.

It also explains the presence in my house of a bright golden package of Ülker Halley "Milk Chocolate Covered Sandwich Biscuit Filled With Mallow," which were on sale at Valli Foods the other day. Ten pieces weighing a total of 300g ("10,58 oz"). Turns out they are much like Moon Pies, though smaller in diameter, and made in Turkey.

Turkish Moon Pies! Who among us doesn't smile at the thought of that? They're pretty good, too. If you like Moon Pies, you'll like Ülker Halley.

One thing leads to another for the idly curious, and before long I found out that Ülker is a major Turkish food manufacturer. Even more interesting, its Cola Turka brand soft drink has gone toe-to-toe with Coca-Cola in recent years. The new drink has been making inroads into Coke's market share in Turkey with the help of Chevy Chase, playing in Cola Turka commercials the character he plays best, the befuddled householder.