A Taste of Seasons and An Appetite for Trends

I get the feeling that the Japanese can't get enough of trying new flavors. As an Japanese American, I must admit there is a little bit of that in me as well, and therefore one of my favorite aspects of Japanese product marketing is the seasonal, limited-time food and drink items. However short lived that particular flavor may last, it seems to fill their stores with an endless parade of flavors and packaging.
I recently became hooked on Strawberry Cheerio ice cream bars. These bars consisted of chocolate coated strawberry ice-cream, a solid chocolate slab in the center and frozen chips of strawberry crunches. Unfortunately within a few weeks it disappeared only to be replaced by a chocolate and mint Cheerio ice cream bar. (Which I guess is considered the "cool" summer flavor.)
You'll notice alot of food products going through similar cycles throughout the year. Some products that do exceptionally well may become more of a full-time item.
Sodas and other beverages seem to offer variations almost every other week. On June 12th Pepsi rolled out a Cucumber Pepsi. Although it is questionable whether this will be a full time seller, I for one actually liked it. A friend and I agreed that it almost seems like a lighter, less sweeter version of Mountain Dew, which coincidentally saw a remarketing and repackaging about the same week Pepsi Cucumber was introduced. Coincidence...? I think not. Up until that week, Mountain Dew was pretty much confined to random vending machines packaged in cans at sporadic locations throughout Japan. Now it finds itself positioned right by Pepsi Cucumber. I'm thinking maybe Pepsi found this a good time to push Mountain Dew back into the public eye. - But then again, who am I to say.
Kit-Kats are another example of a snack product that sees constant variations.I just tried a lemon kit-kat where instead of chocolate, there is a creamy lemon flavored coating. It actually tasted pretty damn good. I find that my interest in these seasonal food products keep my pockets empty of spare change. I think I can safely admit that the marketing teams of these products defintely have me in their clutches.
On a somewhat random note, according to a co-worker, a few years ago kit-kats won a special place with young students studying for college entrance exams. The word "katsu" means WIN in Japan, and the similar sounding "Kats" of Kit-Kats gives the impression that the consumption of said snack is power booster/luck booster of some sort; if not by sugar content, by the power of what Japanese call "o-majinai" (a good luck ritual, charm). Similarly, the popular fried, breaded pork dish known as Tonkatsu seems to have the same meaning in the hearts of Japanese. A friend of mine once insisted that we have tonkatsu for lunch on the day of his interview. He got the job.