Girl Scout cookie season has always been about more than Thin Mints and Samoas, but a viral “boomer take” is forcing parents to admit the vibe has changed. Instead of kids in sashes knocking on doors, a lot of the selling now happens through links, office email blasts, and parents’ social feeds. The woman behind the rant argues that adults have quietly taken over the hustle, and the internet’s reaction suggests she is hitting a nerve.
Her complaint is landing at a moment when the cookie program itself is in flux, from rising prices to new flavors and themes meant to keep the brand fresh. As the Girl Scouts roll out new cookies and a 2026 program focus, the question is not just whether the treats are still good, but whether kids are still getting the skills the organization promises.
The “boomer hot take” calling out parents
The spark for the latest debate is a woman named Jan, whose video has been circulating under the label “Boomer Hot Take” about Girl Scout Cookies. Jan’s basic argument is blunt: parents, not kids, are doing most of the selling now, and in the process they are “ruining the whole” point of the cookie program. In her view, the shift from doorbells and card tables to online order forms and parent-run campaigns has turned a youth leadership exercise into another adult-managed side hustle, and she is not shy about saying so in the clip that has been shared as Boomer Hot Take.
Another mom writing about the same trend admits that when cookie time rolls around, her own “Confession” is that she drops links on social media and asks friends and family to order, instead of sending her kid to knock on doors. She describes how easy it is to lean on digital tools and adult networks, even as she knows the program is supposed to teach kids to pitch, track orders, and handle money, a tension she lays out in a piece that repeats the phrase “When Girl Scout” cookie season hits as a kind of ritual refrain linked to Confession time. The honesty in that account is exactly why Jan’s critique is resonating: plenty of parents recognize themselves in it.
“Shoveling the path” and what kids lose when adults take over
Jan’s rant also landed in a broader parenting conversation about how much help is too much. In a separate discussion, another commentator compares this kind of parental over-involvement to “shoveling out the path” for children, instead of letting them do the hard work themselves. In that clip, which has been shared under the title “Mom Says Parents Are Ruining Girl Scout Cookie Sales,” the speaker ties the cookie debate to a larger pattern of adults smoothing every bump in their kids’ lives, a point that comes through clearly in the video at Mom Says Parents. The idea is not that parents should disappear, but that constantly stepping in robs kids of chances to practice resilience and initiative.
There is evidence from other youth programs that when adults pull back a bit, kids step up. In one story about a running and confidence program, a leader named Mark explains that the activity “gave them (Female college students) something to do and something to accomplish” and helped “teach the kids to have mental self-confidence,” a description that appears in a profile of Girls on the Run in Texoma linked through stories from the. The same logic applies to cookie season: if adults handle the sales pitch, the spreadsheet, and the delivery route, kids miss the messy, confidence-building parts that programs like this are designed to provide.
What the Girl Scouts say the cookie program is actually for
Officially, the Girl Scouts are clear that the cookie program is supposed to be a “boardroom in a box” for kids, not a fundraising shortcut for parents. On its main site, the organization describes how Girl Scout Cookie sales are meant to build goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics, all wrapped in a familiar green sash and a cardboard case of Thin Mints, a mission laid out on the central Girl Scouts page. The program is framed as a hands-on business lab where kids make choices about inventory, marketing, and how to spend their troop proceeds.
That focus is echoed in the 2026 cookie theme, which leans into the idea that the program is “more importantly” about leadership and entrepreneurship than about any single flavor. Coverage of the new theme notes that it is designed so the cookie program can serve as a “boardroom in a box” as long as required programming requirements are met, language that appears in a piece on the 2026 cookie theme linked through the phrase “Might it be your new favorite? Perhaps. But more importantly,” which is captured in the URL for Might it be. That framing lines up neatly with Jan’s complaint: if the whole point is to let kids run a mini business, then adults turning it into a parent-run online sale really does undercut the mission.
New cookies, higher prices, and pressure to “perform”
At the same time, the cookie program is not operating in a vacuum. Councils are raising prices, and that adds pressure on families to sell more to cover troop plans. One council, Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, spells out a “Cookie Price Increase” and notes that its Girl Scout Cookie prices had stayed the same since 2020 and were lower than other councils, but that they would go up during the 2026 Cookie Program, a detail laid out on the GSCB volunteer site. In New Jersey, reporting notes that Girl Scout cookies in 2026 are $6 a box for all varieties across the state’s four councils, according to the organization, a uniform price point described in a piece that opens with the question “How much are Girl Scout cookies 2026?” and is linked through How much.
Nationally, the organization has acknowledged that it is raising prices again to keep up with the cost of production, a move that one broadcast jokingly dubbed “cookieation” while explaining that Girl Scouts of America is increasing prices to cover higher expenses, a point made in a segment linked through Scouts of America. One analysis of Girl Scout Cookies in 2025 noted that it would not be surprising to see prices in the $5 to $7 range, or perhaps a slight bump, and reminded readers that cookie season would be back before they knew it, a forecast that appears in a blog entry by Jan at Girl Scout Cookies. When boxes cost more and councils depend on the revenue, it is not shocking that parents feel pressure to hit big numbers, which in turn makes it more tempting for adults to take the wheel.
Exploremores, new themes, and a program trying to evolve
On top of the pricing shifts, the Girl Scouts are also tinkering with the product lineup to keep buyers interested. Earlier this year, Girl Scouts of the USA launched a new sandwich cookie called Exploremores as cookie season began across American neighborhoods, a rocky road inspired treat described in a rundown of the lineup linked through the word Here. The organization has said that Exploremores reflect the spirit of exploration at the heart of every Girl Scout, and that the new cookie arrives as the group hopes an “incredible” new flavor can help with crumbling sales and financial losses, a candid admission that appears in coverage of the launch at Exploremores. The fact that a cookie rollout is being asked to fix “crumbling sales” shows how much financial weight the program now carries.
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