On April 6, 2005 Hostess Twinkies will turn 73, marking a milestone for one of America's favorite treats.

Hostess Twinkies aren't really for kids. Neither are Nestle Crunch bars or Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies,
according to the companies that make them. The marketers say they have a better audience: grown-ups.

With food companies being targeted in the growth of childhood obesity, some are shifting their ad strategies.
They're insisting that their products — staples of school lunchboxes and trick-or-treat offerings — are really
geared more toward moms and dads.

In the 1950s, the puppet Howdy Doody pitched creme-filled Twinkies on the classic children's television show.
Now, “Hostess is not a kids' brand,” says Jacques Roizen, chief marketing officer for Interstate Bakeries Corp.,
maker of Hostess snack cakes and fruit pies. “A majority of our snacks are consumed by adults.”

The target customer for Baby Ruth candy bars? “Definitely adult men,” says Barb Skoog, spokeswoman for
Nestle SA. McKee Foods Corp., maker of Little Debbie Nutty Bars and Oatmeal Creme Pies, says women
ages 18 to 45 are its key buyers — even though they're eaten by consumers of all ages.

Some people aren't buying it. “That's almost laughable,” says Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who has
blamed junk-food ads for contributing to rising obesity rates. He estimates the food industry spent $10 billion
last year advertising directly to children.

Referring to promotions that employ characters from the “Shrek” and “Scooby-Doo” movies, he says,
“I don't know that they would really use these if they were really marketing to adults.”