For the second year in a row, Zoe is selling Girl Scout cookies, and just like the first time, it’s been an adventure. You probably remember our story from last year, which I posted almost exactly one year ago. In case you don’t remember the Great Cookie Shortage of 2022 and don’t want to re-read a whole blog post or article, the short version is that the bakeries couldn’t keep up with sales. Certain cookies were removed from the site (and difficult to get locally), even the famous Samoas. *GASP*

And so, to avoid a similar issue this year and help local scouts learn in-person sales skills, they concocted a brilliant idea:

• Allow ONLY local Girl Scout in-person sales from cookie launch (Jan 24) through Feb 27.
• During that time, those who don’t live nearby can ONLY buy Cookies for the Community to support their favorite distant Girl Scout.
• On Feb 27, ALL the cookies can be purchased through the website, including a brand new cookie (the Raspberry Rally), which is like a Thin Mint, but raspberry.

There are kinks in this plan. For example (and forgive us if you personally experienced this), the annual “Hey, It’s Cookie Season” email that gets sent out through the Girl Scout system does not make that plan clear. In fact, here’s what it said:

Craving your favorite Girl Scout Cookies? I’ve got you!

Now you can order the most delicious cookies right from the comfort and safety of your living room through my Digital Cookie^® site, where you’ll also see my goal and a special message from me. 

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Sure makes it like you can order any cookies you want, immediately, through the site to support Zoe, right? Nope. In fact, for those who are not local, the experience is terrible. Click the button and arrive at a site that has Zoe on it, but NO COOKIES–and a faint blue box at the bottom of the page that says “Shipped cookies will be available starting February 27th.” Awful.

I spent the entire Cookie Season last year trying to help our little Girl Scout learn some new skills, like sales, marketing, and service design, so she could find success selling cookies. Her Thank You song for those who bought cookies, multiple videos for Facebook to explain the program and create sense of urgency, and more all came out of brainstorms we had on what we could do to stand out. We both learned a lot, and she hit (even exceeded) her goal and got to attend a fun event at Hurricane Harbor.

Here we go again! And this year is going to require some NEW skills… Realizing that there was confusion for Zoe’s supporters from last year who don’t live in LA, we sprung into action. Zoe decided to record a video that explained the program, and Ella jumped in to help. Having bought a box of S’mores from her sister with her own money, Ella offered up a plan: “I’m going to taste test a cookie for your video.” Together they wrote out a brief script of what Ella would say, and we planned out Zoe’s intro, which would cover the timing and high points of this year’s program.

The first time through, Zoe nailed her part, and Ella did this (CLICK FOR VIDEO):

Yep, Ella is apparently “Ella’s sister, Zoe.” But come on, Zoe’s expression was priceless. What a professional! And remember, Zoe’s intro was flawless. We could have had a one-take wonder. But aren’t bloopers more fun than “perfect”? If you think so, you’ll love what happened next. Here’s Take Two of Ella’s cookie tasting (CLICK FOR VIDEO):

You see, we did one quick run-through before the first recording, and one “redo” test before the second recording, but she never actually took a bite of cookie until the live version. Apparently, the S’mores cookie goes better with milk–or one could say that it’s still a good idea not to talk with your mouth full? And before you ask, Zoe had again nailed her intro.

Don’t think that Zoe didn’t have some false starts, too. She did. Here’s a short one (CLICK FOR VIDEO):

A few times she got 30-40 seconds in only to stumble on “High Fructose Corn Syrup” (try saying that 10 times fast). But I’ll spare you those, and at one point, we had to take a break for the actress to regain her composure and focus. You may be asking why I didn’t just cobble together snippets of the flubbed videos that were good. I’ll argue that the chance to get more bloopers was too great to miss, or, that I’m lazy. For anyone who missed it, here’s the final version (CLICK FOR VIDEO):

At this point, Cookie Season is well underway, and you might be wondering how the Girl Scouts’ plan to avoid shortages is going. Not so great. As of yesterday, Lemon-Ups, Trefoils, Do-Si-Dos, S’mores and Toffee-tastics have all been taken down from the girl-delivered site as the bakers again struggle to keep up with demand. On the bright side, our troop leader is brilliant and believes we should have enough cookies as a troop to fulfill needs for those cookies.

More importantly, the bakers believe that by February 27, when the online ordering officially goes live and the new Raspberry Rally cookie is launched, they will have resolved the shortages… In the meantime, we’re doing our best to sell the many boxes of cookies we’ve committed to, which are stacked in the dining room at our house.

If you’d like to support Zoe, here are a few options:

• For those in LA or who have friends who live out here, order from the website for girl delivery today.
• For those NOT in LA who don’t want actual cookies but want to support Zoe, choose the Donate Cookies option.
• For those NOT in LA who do want actual cookies, we will be sending out a reminder on Feb 27 when the cookie site fully launches.

For anyone who isn’t local but simply cannot wait to order cookies, we have lots of boxes here and are willing to figure out how to ship before the site goes live on the 27th. Just reach out to me directly for more info on that.

In the meantime, look out for more fun videos and “cookie coverage”, as Zoe tests new ways to inform and encourage sales. And remember, for anyone who orders, you’ll receive a special song performed by Zoe to say Thank You So Much (or TYSM, as the kids like to text)!

I just realized that I failed to share how Daddy Scout is doing. He’s amazing. He took both girls to a local park with a wagon full of cookies, where Zoe sold 10 boxes! He has also kindly brought boxes of cookies to his weekly Game Night, where his fabulous friends have also supported our scout. He even encouraged her to sell a box to the plumber who was recently here, and he bought a box of Thin Mints! Every box counts.

Stay tuned for more Johnson Family scouting adventures, and hey, THANKS FOR BUYING COOKIES so we don’t end up with 100 boxes left over…