‘A bleak, flavorless gluten-free wasteland’ — NJ Girl Scout’s brutal reviews of cookies she sells
SOUTH ORANGE -- Charlotte McCourt's initial goal was to sell 300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for her troop this winter. The 11-year-old has now sold many, many more than that, thanks to her own no-holds-barred ratings that recently went viral.
McCourt's sales pitch began, according to NBC's "Today" show, with an email to a "very rich" friend of her father's who wanted to buy boxes to send to troops overseas. Before taking his order, though, she ran down the entire cookie roster for her client, offering her candid evaluations.
"The Girl Scout Organization can sometimes use false advertisement," she wrote. "These are all only my opinion."
Turns out Charlotte has some strong opinions.
Of Toffee-tastics, described on Little Brownie Bakers' website as "rich, buttery cookies packed with golden toffee bits bursting with flavor," she wrote: "It is a bleak, flavorless gluten-free wasteland. It is flavorless as dirt. I give it a 1 (out of 10)."
The classic Trefoil? "I would give it a 6 because alone, it is sort of bland," she wrote, suggesting the shortbread cookie be paired with a hot drink. Bland and unoriginal were the terms used to describe the oatmeal-peanut butter sandwich cookie Do-si-dos, which received a 5 in the ratings.
Other cookies fared better. Savannah Smiles, with a score of 7: "Just the right balance of sweet and sour." Tagalongs (8/10): "If you don't like peanut butter, than [sic] don't buy it!" Thin Mints (9/10): "Delectable chocolate/mint combination." Samoas: "I give it a 9 for its AMAZING flavor!"
McCourt did not review the brand-new S'mores variation.
"If you have a wild sense of adventure, try this," she wrote. "No one has tried it, so I cannot rate it."
McCourt's father, Sean, is a producer on "The Way I Heard It," a podcast hosted by TV host and pitchman Mike Rowe. "Today" reported that Sean gave Rowe a copy of Charlotte's email, which Rowe read aloud on his Facebook page last week.
That video now has 8.4 million views, and has driven Charlotte's tally to more than 16,000 boxes sold, according to NJ.com.
Many of those boxes, owing to Charlotte's original premise, have indeed been earmarked to be sent to U.S. soldiers stationed overseas.
"Notice how none of the cookie boxes are a 10? There is a reason for it," she wrote. "The real 10 is donating a box."
Charlotte's personal cookie order page can be viewed here.
MORE GIRL SCOUT COOKIE COVERAGE:
- Girl Scout cookie sales: How to say no to a co-worker (Dan Alexander)
- Where and when to find Girl Scout cookies in NJ this year (Dino Flammia)
Patrick Lavery produces "New Jersey's First News" and is New Jersey 101.5's morning drive breaking news reporter. Tagalongs are his favorite Girl Scout cookie variety. Follow him on Twitter @plavery1015 or email patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com.
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