http://area203.com

Where Does Panda Cheese Come From?

Posted by Will Smith on 07/02/2010

While making the rounds of advertising blogs, I came across these three gems from  Panda Cheese.  I’m not being sarcastic, for a change; I really like these ads.

For my money, the best moments are when the panda angrily swats the flour, the keyboard rampage, and the threatening look the panda displays after pulling the IV tube loose.  There’s something a bit sinister in the panda’s fixed expression.  At times it seems like a smile, but there’s an underlying, implied anger that’s rather unnerving.  The cheesiness—excuse the pun—of the costume really helps to sell the overall theme.  CGI just wouldn’t be as much fun here.

I hope I’m not the only one, though, who initially thought of something much different when I heard the words “Panda Cheese.”  Goat cheese comes from goat milk, and so just for a second I pondered the obvious next question.  I know the idea is patently ridiculous, but just imagine being the guy who has to milk the pandas.  They’re not really the cuddly creatures we imagine them to be.  Google “panda attack” and you’ll get 952,000 results.  Just for reference, Google returns only 353,000 results for “Rottweiler attack,” and I’ve never heard anyone volunteer to milk a Rottweiler.

The website for The Arab Dairy Products Co. offers no evidence as to why the company branded its Mozzarella, Feta and Parmesan cheeses as Panda Cheese.  A Chinese animal selling an Italian food—no, I still don’t see the connection.  California’s happy cows make sense, as does The Laughing Cow.  Since mozzarella is properly made with buffalo milk, that animal would also make a fine mascot.  A marsupial doesn’t strike me as an ideal mascot for cheese, though.

But who cares about the logic of it all when the commercials are so much fun?  It’s a shame we won’t see them on TV in this country.  And to answer that initial question: Panda Cheese comes from Egypt, of course.