In the weeks leading up to the 2024 Election Day, a Middle Village deli came up with a creative approach to try and get Queens residents into the voting spirit by starting to sell cookies with the presidential candidates faces on them.
Mario’s Meats and Gourmet Deli, located at 75-55 Metropolitan Ave., partnered with the Brooklyn-based bakery Circo’s Pastry Shop, located at 312 Knickerbocker Ave., to create and sell these cookies. Owner Joe DiGangi said he came up with the idea to offer these cookies nearly two weeks before the election and quickly reached out to the bakery, which has been a partner that the deli frequently does business with. Circo’s has been baking cookies and supplying its own store, as well as Mario’s, with them to sell.
“We spoke to [Circo’s], and they were putting these cookies out,” DiGangi said. “We spoke to them about teaming up and doing a video together and selling these [cookies] at both places.”
While DiGangi is hopeful that all his customers were already highly motivated to vote in the election, he also hopes that this special promotion could help inspire more people to vote, regardless of political beliefs.
“I don’t think we need any more motivation to get people to come out and vote [than what already have], but it adds a little fun to the mix,” DiGangi said.
With the cookies selling at such a high rate, DiGangi expressed interest in doing this again for future elections.
“It went pretty well, the cookies sold well, and it created a buzz in the area,” DiGangi said. “It actually worked out well for us. The community enjoyed it. There was actually some infighting in the comments [of the Facebook video promoting the cookies], which is kind of expected. But it was still pretty good. A lot of people showed up. They were buying both. Some were buying one candidate more than others. It went pretty well.”
While Queens and New York City as a whole are viewed as an area with a lot of Liberal voters, DiGangi noted that the Donald Trump cookies were outselling the Kamala Harris cookies by a four-to-one ratio. Regardless of whether or not that ends up reflecting how the borough votes, DiGangi is just happy to add something fun that can unite people during such a divided time.
