I recently encountered some news online that I am excited to share with you. Hefty, the trash bag company, has officially relaunched the iconic Zoo Pals paper plate product. I'm personally stoked, and if I could, I would eat every meal off of these. 

Sadly, the hype around the return of such an iconic and culturally defining product has caused Zoo Pals to become out of stock and currently unavailable. It is unclear if or when they will be back in stock, but you know I will be checking in periodically to find out and order some for myself. 

My first (and potentially the only) meal I would eat from these plates would be the one I had countless times in my past: mac n' cheese, baked beans, and cut-up hotdogs with a slice of American cheese melted on top. No bun. Top it all off with some ketchup and lots of salt and pepper, and that's some good eats right there. 

Looking at the pictures of them, there are a few styles of Zoo Pals I do not distinctly remember, like the lady bug nor the bear. I assume they are still the same designs as were sold when I was a youngster, but maybe they changed a few. I wouldn't know the difference; they are the B-tier options anyways. I can say there are a few I used to fight over eating off of, and although there are some great options like the duck or the frog, my all-time favorite has to be the whale! 

The return of the Zoo Pals has been long awaited, and the memes about it keep cracking me up. Maybe it is just the golden hue of revisting artifacts from when I was a little kid, but I feel like I need some Zoo Pals in my life just about now. I've been tossing around ideas for other blogs about products that are no longer available or that were brought back after a long hiatus (only to be different and inferior to how they were). 

With that I have to ask, what's something that used to be around that you wish would come back? Or would you rather leave it in the past for fear it would be different than how you remember it? For me, no contest, it is the Mad Dog Dub Edition Monster Energy drink from like 2010 era. It came in a purple can and tasted like heaven, and I would pay an astronomical amount to have one again. 

Here's a link to the Hefty webpage: https://www.hefty.com/products/tableware/zoo-pals-plates