Rovio Strikes While the Pan is Hot

The maker of Angry Birds has been a master of spin-offs and marketing related products. But is an Angry Birds cookbook going to far?

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I admit it: I was slow to get on the Angry Birds bandwagon. Until I realized that the simple, mildly violent game I downloaded on my iPhone had the uncanny ability to keep my toddler nieces quiet and occupied for large blocks of time. (For those who haven't played, the game basically entails catapulting wingless birds, who have been angered by evil pigs who stole their eggs, into precarious porcine residences in the hopes of destroying said pigs.)

Since the advent of the game, there have been Angry Birds Halloween costumes, stuffed animals, t-shirts, and birthday cakes, not to mention shout-outs on The Daily Show and 30 Rock. There's even an Angry Birds Rio version. And now the game's developer, Rovio, just announced plans to self-publish an Angry Birds cookbook filled with egg recipes—and who knows what else. (I personally think there should be a bacon and rillettes chapter, but that's just me.)

I admire the Finnish company's ability to strike while the frying pan is still hot—there's also an animated TV series and board game featuring the hotheaded birds in the works. And self-publishing the cookbook is a smart move: by keeping the book in-house, Rovio will keep 90 percent of sales of the book. Not likely to be small amount, as the mobile game recently hit the 200 million download mark. "We want to be insanely profitable in every business we enter," Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka has said.

But how likely are you to make an Angry Birds frittata? I for one, will be more likely to thumb through my well-loved copy of The Good Egg instead.

Clarissa Cruz is the Fashion Features Editor of O, The Oprah Magazine. She is the former Style Editor of People magazine and has written for Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Food & Wine, and Budget Travel. @clarissanyc1