‘Just go to Dollar Tree or something and get them’: Are Olive Garden mints just Andes repackaged? Viral video leaves viewers divided

Popular content creator Jordan Howlett (jordan_the_stallion8) has built a TikTok following of almost 12 million as the President of the “Fast Food Secrets Club,” a title coined for his viral videos that expose the “secrets”—deals, recipes, and more—of different fast food restaurant chains.

Now a recent video has reignited passions over iconic chocolate mints.

Some of his reveals include recipes for  Wingstop’s ranch, Taco Bell’s Baja Blast, and Little Ceasars Crazy Sauce. He’s also shared Olive Garden’s breadstick supplier and told viewers that they can buy the restaurant’s cheese graters by request, reportedly causing a shortage of cheese graters at the Olive Gardens in Howlett’s town. 

In his latest exposé, Howlett attempts to put to test another alleged Olive Garden secret: That customers can buy an entire box of the restaurant's famous mint chocolates.

“Now, Olive Garden is not too happy with me,” Howlett says in the video, explaining how the cheese grater scandal and his revealing the restaurant’s alfredo sauce recipe has somewhat put him on their bad side, “but I’m gonna sneak in there and see if it’s true, and hopefully they don’t recognize me.”

Upon walking into his local Olive Garden, however, Howlett is immediately recognized by workers. To Howlett’s surprise, they are even wanted posters of him posted on the restaurant’s walls.

“There are wanted posters of me in this Olive Garden,” Howlett laughs, astonished. He shows one of the posters which features a photo of him and the caption: “Wanted by Olive Garden. When he’s here, he’s not family.” 

“There are so many, they’re in the bathroom,” he continues.

Back outside of the restaurant, Howlett shares his conclusion that a customer cannot buy a box of chocolates from olive Garden. 

“So, they don’t sell their chocolate, you can’t get a box of chocolate but I guess you can get a wanted poster… everybody inside was so nice! I don’t know who made them, but I’m keeping them,” he concludes, holding a small stack of wanted posters as the video ends.

In the comments, viewers argued that Olive Garden’s mint chocolates are simply Andes Mints and could be bought at any local grocery store.

“They’re just Andes Mints, available at any store,” one user wrote. 

When a viewer claimed store-bought Andes Mints “never seem to taste as good” as Olive Garden’s, another wrote that the difference is Olive Garden “keeps them in the freezer.”

So is it the same product? Close: It's the same company.

"We first partnered with Andes in 1986 – just two years after Olive Garden opened – and we've been serving our specially-made Andes After-Dinner Mints ever since," Jaime Bunker, the senior vice president of marketing at Olive Garden, said in an email to Salon earlier this year.

According to Wikipedia, "The mint used at Olive Garden is a special flavor manufactured exclusively for the restaurant chain, but it is tastewise similar to the Mint Parfait flavor, containing the same layers, but at different ratios."

@jordan_the_stallion8 Stitch with @Yazzibae | Content Creator #fypシ ♬ original sound - Jordan_The_Stallion8

The Daily Dot has reached out to Jordan Howlett via Instagram message for more information. 

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘Just go to Dollar Tree or something and get them’: Are Olive Garden mints just Andes repackaged? Viral video leaves viewers divided appeared first on The Daily Dot.