The Power of Krispy Kremes

Never underestimate the power of a brand. I had read various brand stories on Coke, SIA, etc. but not had any personal encounters - until last night. AND 3 encounters at that.

It all started when my colleague from Sydney asked if I wanted any Krispy Kremes. He often flew into Singapore for meetings and would ask some of us whom he knew had a sweet tooth if we would like him to get some Krispy Kremes for us.

Well this wasn't the first time that he has done so, but was the first time I didn't have a carier to bring it home in.

I had a dinner appointment before heading home and had to carry the box of Krispy Kremes by resting it on my lower arm and gripping it from the side. As such, the Krispy Kreme logo was in plain view.

While we were waiting to get a cab, I heard this delighted shriek behind me: "KRISPY KREMES!" I turned around and saw 3 caucasians walking toward me, one of whom was the shrieker. They walked toward me all smiles and asked me where I got it from. Turned out they were from Sydney, Australia and that it was the favourite of Ms delighted shrieks. After a short exchange they continued on their way with parting words like 'Lucky Girl!' and 'Enjoy'.

As we weren't as lucky with getting a cab, we decided to walk down to City Hall to take the train. When we were almost there, waiting at a traffic junction for the little green man to appear, I heard a voice shout out 'Can we have one?!' Surprised I turned and saw a small car packed full of muscular, sporty guys who looked like they were still in college. At that time the little green man appeared and I hurriedly made my way across the road while my friend shouted out 'No!'

I finally said goodbye to my friend and got into the train station. While waiting at the gates for the train to arrive, I decided to blog about my 2 encounters for the night on my Palm Treo 680. Barely 2 minutes into blogging, the guy beside me who had been staring at the Krispy Kreme box for a while suddenly sprang to life and walked up to me. "Excuse me, did you get the Krispy Kremes here?" Taken aback as I was deep into my blogging, I looked up and saw a guy probably in his late 20s or early 30s, looking like he had been hit by a truck, with hope written over his face, and said ' Sorry, a colleague brought them over from Sydney for me.' He was immediately crestfallen and said 'Oh well, I've had a lot of bad news today so this is just one more. One more doesn't make much diff.' Then he went on to tell me that he's a Taiwanese working here in Singapore, but had studied in the States and ate Krispy Kremes all the time. 'I really miss it a lot' he repeated twice forlornly.

'Well I would have given you one if we were not at train station" I said guiltily.

"Oh please don't get me wrong! I'm not begging for one, just that I miss it so much but it wasn't with the intention to get one from you."

I smiled and then the train arrived, thanfully. we parted ways after which I saw him making calls on his mobile with a tense, angry countenance of one under great pressure. When I got off the train at my stop, still holding my Krispy Kremes, I felt like a princess walking home with a prized trophy...