Today we continue our look at all things British with Nestlé's Munchies.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Munchies - 3 / 5
I just don't think this is what I'll be reaching for the next time I've got the munchies... For more on Munchies though please check them out online. Anyhow, we've got a few more weeks of British reviews coming at you. For all the goods please stay right here, or go over to our YouTube channel.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Skor review
Another day, another review. Today on the block, we've got Hershey's Skor.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Skor - 3 / 5
Very middle of the road stuff here. I'll have to pick up a Heath bar soon and try that as a comparison. Anyhow, if you want to know more about Skor you can check out the official page on Hershey's site.
For more WTCA goodness feel free to check out all of our reviews on the Reviews Page.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Skor - 3 / 5
Very middle of the road stuff here. I'll have to pick up a Heath bar soon and try that as a comparison. Anyhow, if you want to know more about Skor you can check out the official page on Hershey's site.
For more WTCA goodness feel free to check out all of our reviews on the Reviews Page.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
M&Ms Ads - Becoming Superstars
When last we talked about the M&Ms the little candy coated super-stars we're headed full tilt into the new Millennium. While other companies we're floundering to maintain clean cut mascots in a world full of cynical and way too smart kids the M&Ms managed to ride a tide of good will bolstered by smart mature humor and a constantly evolving sensibility that kept them fresh. Maybe what worked so well for them was that they stopped being aimed specifically at kids. The M&M characters left their pure cartoon roots with the introduction of the mixed media CG versions of the characters, and Mars stopped even making commercials without them. They reached a mass awareness that few mascots have ever achieved and kept on pushing, to become, and stay, the biggest of mega-stars in the candy world.
To be honest, figuring out how this all went down is pretty confusing so |I'm going to assume I will be getting some of this wrong. Lets be clear: I am not a historian. This is a light fun pop survey of the modern M&M characters as seen through their advertizing. There are other places on the web, or in print if you're looking for cold hard facts. Like Yellow, we're just here to have a good time :)
So as we got into the early 00s foreign markets expanded, the brand grew, and ads specifically targeted at non-western markets began to hit. This change alone makes sifting the chaff on the internet pretty complicated especially since some of the campaigns and ads were used in different countries at different times, or under different circumstances. Anyhow, suffice it to say the opening of foreign markets and ad campaigns, makes it extremely messy.
Lets take a step back though and have a look at some ads. As the century ended, the M&Ms were interacting with celebs in new mixed media adverts, and establishing the core dynamic of the Red Yellow relationship that we all know and love.
The candies declaring themselves the Spokescandies of the new Millennium at end of '97, and I missed one ad they featured in one that I had to share. I love this one, and wanted to make sure I posted it.
Its great to see Dick Clark still young (youngish) and its nice that he was comfortable making fun of his age.
With the launch of Crispy M&Ms in '99 there were more than a few ads featuring the new character and flavor.
Oh Puddy. You always entertain me :D
And Red, you're always pulling fast ones...
As I said Red and Yellow especially we're developing the classic Laurel and Hardy playing off each other riffs, and the public loved it. Here are a few other turn of the century ads that feature the M&Ms just being their own funny selves.
That is a little disturbing. funny but disturbing. This next one just features Red, but its pretty cute.
And finally here's an ad from '99 that I think shows where all the ads were headed in the early '00s.
This is a really great one. The airport ad is awesome because it showcases Red and Yellow doing their thing. It's got them bickering lovingly, being funny interacting with our world. They even break the fourth wall directly, they acknowledge that they are in fact candy, and it all wraps up with a solid tag at the end. This is the shape of the ads to come.
Getting into the 2000s for real-sies now they launched a fun campaign at the start of the year.
This is great on a number of levels, but I think the most important thing to note is the solo color offering. This is one of the first time solo colors were offered for a promotion. AND this wasn't a promotion tied into a holiday like Easter or Xmas where they gave us specially colored (or flavored) editions of the candy. This was just for the heck of it.
Another fun thing came up in the year 2000. And the next very serious ad addresses it perfectly.
That's right. Plain has changed, and in 2000 M&Ms re-branded their classic candy as Milk Chocolate. Such an obvious thing, but remember back when M&Ms started it was really a different world.
One more cute one on this, because I as I've mentioned before I smile for Patrick Warburton and always want him to succeed.
2000 also saw the release of two new M&M video games: The Lost Formula and Mini Madness.
In 2001 M&Ms started a long and strange journey trying out a lot of weird and sometimes very interesting flavors. For this outing they tried their hand at Dulce de Leche in some 5 Hispanic countries. Although it was a valiant attempt and actually sounds pretty good there wasn't much interest apparently and the product line was discontinued by '03.
In 2002 the ads continued, only got a bit more sophisticated. The Laurel and Hardy routine that Red and Yellow we're perfecting still had to be tempered. As much as I like the Airport commercial above its also VERY 90s. Here's the kind of standard ad that typified the early 2000s. Even though it only has Red you can see that it shows a literal and quirky take on the candy. More importantly it's just plain funny.
Love that Bradley Whitford (and this ad is during the height of his run on The West Wing).
2002 also saw the return and update of a previous successful ad campaign. The Global Color Vote was essentially the same trick they'd pulled in '95 but this time it was between Pink, Purple, or Aqua as the new color.
Here's a French ad featuring some cheerleaders?!
After Purple won the contest, it became an M&M color for a limited time. I'm not sure why they didn't keep it around or give us a new mascot like they did when Blue made the scene but they did feature a nifty contest looking for the bag full of Purple M&Ms to win a prize.
In 2004 the M&Ms launched another cool color campaign, only this one was all about the missing color! The hunt was on to find Grey M&Ms this time and it all started with this funny ad.
Here's one that maybe explains it a bit better.
And I always loved this bloodhound one though. Great stuff.
One of the interesting things about M&Ms getting so popular in the 2000s is that they started doing huge tie in marketing promotions. M&Ms had a number of movie tie ins over the years 2004 saw the start of the cross media tie ins, And not just with The Wizard of Oz. No instead I mean this beauty below inspired by the Addams Family to promote another limited run on Dark Chocolate M&Ms.
That's not all from '04 though. M&Ms also got big, and I don't mean regular big, I mean OGRE sized!
I actually think this tie in with Shrek 2 is a great one. M&Ms and Shrek are a really perfectly paired brand. But since M&Ms were in the midst of experiments in size and shape 2004 saw the first appearance of the most radical change yet, the M-Azing chocolate bar!
It sounds like the M-Azing bar was only moderately successful. The bar apparently stuck around in some form or another straight through until today and was finally re-branded and re-launched in 2013 as the new M&M chocolate bar. A bit more on that in the next post.
Aside from featuring in the new M-Azing bar, the M&M Minis we're also going strong in '04. I posted a few ads from this era of the Minis in my last blog post on this subject but here is another one to show you where the Mini advertizing was at the time.
At first I thought it seemed like a very 90s ad but then I realized that the M&M minis were being targeted at kids, while regular M&Ms were targeted at everyone.
Speaking of mass marketing the following year M&Ms teamed up with another film franchise that had probably the biggest mass market appeal possible. Watch the ad below to see the M&Ms join the Dark Side...
Watching this I have to wonder why Mars never just out and out put out a Dark Chocolate M&M on a permanent basis. I know they've got a few specialties at all times these days, but its weird that they kept bringing it back as a limited run.
2005 also saw the launch of Mega M&Ms. I'm guessing that the Ogre sized M&Ms went over so well that they decided to continue the line.
I know that ad didn't have the M&M characters in it but its pretty funny..
If the Chocolate M-Pire tie in wasn't the breaking point then it had to be the M&M tie ins for '06. These guys weren't just well known spokes-candies, they were true celebrities unto themselves. In 2006 Red and Yellow made a mark adjacent to Joan Rivers at the Academy Awards pre-show. To me this is huge.
Think about the number of eyeballs on that broadcast. Think about the fact that there are people who care about this from really all over the world. Its pretty serious stuff. I mean as serious as you can get for entertainers who aren't actually stars on the big screen.
They may be super-commercialized.... but can you blame them? I mean they are commercial characters. 2006 also saw ties ins for Pirates 3, and Shrek 3.
Pirates 3 in saw the launch of limited time white chocolate M&Ms, and Shrek the Third saw the return of Ogre sized M&Ms again, as well as this vacation contest.
I'm going to jump ahead a bit now, in 2008 M&Ms finally hit on a weird urban myth for their gain. At Valentines they launched a limited run of all green M&Ms. Green you ask? yes. I'm not sure how well known the rumor is now, but I totally remember as a kid hearing that green M&Ms we're for sexy time...
These also came at Christmas time that year. As good a time as any for an aphrodisiac (weather its true or not).
The summer of 2008 saw another side product launched from M&Ms. The M&M ice cream bar.
Its true...
That's pretty funny :)
New limited time flavors also emerged in 2008. Wild Cherry hit the scene alongside Mint Crisp M&Ms as a promotion tied into Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.
The biggest promotion of 2008 though came with the launch of mymms.com. Now there was finally a chance to change things up, and get your face, or whatever you wanted printed onto your M&Ms. Very exciting stuff.
After this commercial Mars took a different tack making a bunch of pretty funny commercials letting regular people become an M&M.
That ones probably my favorite, but there are some other great ones.
ha, contacts...
Gross but funny.
ha, earholes...
Good stuff all around.
Before I finally wrap this very long blog post up I'll mention one more 2008 M&Ms item. The launch of Premiums. Ms Green finally got something all her own here and it turned out quite well.
5 flavors of premiums were launched. I know I ate a few of them. They had a 'high end' vibe to them and I suppose they were pretty decadent.
Of course we know that Mint has been around since this time in on again off again limited runs, but this is where I first had it. A few more of the flavors were Rasberry Almond, which is actually a current limited run flavor, and Triple Chocolate. Both sound great to me.
I've had these and they do taste great.
mmm... so delicious sounding.
When we come back to this topic, I'll pick up from 2008 and we can watch some more ads together. These crazy M&Ms just became superstars right under your noses... pretty impressive. Thanks all, later :)
To be honest, figuring out how this all went down is pretty confusing so |I'm going to assume I will be getting some of this wrong. Lets be clear: I am not a historian. This is a light fun pop survey of the modern M&M characters as seen through their advertizing. There are other places on the web, or in print if you're looking for cold hard facts. Like Yellow, we're just here to have a good time :)
So as we got into the early 00s foreign markets expanded, the brand grew, and ads specifically targeted at non-western markets began to hit. This change alone makes sifting the chaff on the internet pretty complicated especially since some of the campaigns and ads were used in different countries at different times, or under different circumstances. Anyhow, suffice it to say the opening of foreign markets and ad campaigns, makes it extremely messy.
Lets take a step back though and have a look at some ads. As the century ended, the M&Ms were interacting with celebs in new mixed media adverts, and establishing the core dynamic of the Red Yellow relationship that we all know and love.
The candies declaring themselves the Spokescandies of the new Millennium at end of '97, and I missed one ad they featured in one that I had to share. I love this one, and wanted to make sure I posted it.
Its great to see Dick Clark still young (youngish) and its nice that he was comfortable making fun of his age.
With the launch of Crispy M&Ms in '99 there were more than a few ads featuring the new character and flavor.
Oh Puddy. You always entertain me :D
And Red, you're always pulling fast ones...
As I said Red and Yellow especially we're developing the classic Laurel and Hardy playing off each other riffs, and the public loved it. Here are a few other turn of the century ads that feature the M&Ms just being their own funny selves.
That is a little disturbing. funny but disturbing. This next one just features Red, but its pretty cute.
And finally here's an ad from '99 that I think shows where all the ads were headed in the early '00s.
This is a really great one. The airport ad is awesome because it showcases Red and Yellow doing their thing. It's got them bickering lovingly, being funny interacting with our world. They even break the fourth wall directly, they acknowledge that they are in fact candy, and it all wraps up with a solid tag at the end. This is the shape of the ads to come.
Getting into the 2000s for real-sies now they launched a fun campaign at the start of the year.
This is great on a number of levels, but I think the most important thing to note is the solo color offering. This is one of the first time solo colors were offered for a promotion. AND this wasn't a promotion tied into a holiday like Easter or Xmas where they gave us specially colored (or flavored) editions of the candy. This was just for the heck of it.
Another fun thing came up in the year 2000. And the next very serious ad addresses it perfectly.
That's right. Plain has changed, and in 2000 M&Ms re-branded their classic candy as Milk Chocolate. Such an obvious thing, but remember back when M&Ms started it was really a different world.
One more cute one on this, because I as I've mentioned before I smile for Patrick Warburton and always want him to succeed.
2000 also saw the release of two new M&M video games: The Lost Formula and Mini Madness.
In 2001 M&Ms started a long and strange journey trying out a lot of weird and sometimes very interesting flavors. For this outing they tried their hand at Dulce de Leche in some 5 Hispanic countries. Although it was a valiant attempt and actually sounds pretty good there wasn't much interest apparently and the product line was discontinued by '03.
In 2002 the ads continued, only got a bit more sophisticated. The Laurel and Hardy routine that Red and Yellow we're perfecting still had to be tempered. As much as I like the Airport commercial above its also VERY 90s. Here's the kind of standard ad that typified the early 2000s. Even though it only has Red you can see that it shows a literal and quirky take on the candy. More importantly it's just plain funny.
Love that Bradley Whitford (and this ad is during the height of his run on The West Wing).
2002 also saw the return and update of a previous successful ad campaign. The Global Color Vote was essentially the same trick they'd pulled in '95 but this time it was between Pink, Purple, or Aqua as the new color.
Here's a French ad featuring some cheerleaders?!
After Purple won the contest, it became an M&M color for a limited time. I'm not sure why they didn't keep it around or give us a new mascot like they did when Blue made the scene but they did feature a nifty contest looking for the bag full of Purple M&Ms to win a prize.
In 2004 the M&Ms launched another cool color campaign, only this one was all about the missing color! The hunt was on to find Grey M&Ms this time and it all started with this funny ad.
Here's one that maybe explains it a bit better.
And I always loved this bloodhound one though. Great stuff.
One of the interesting things about M&Ms getting so popular in the 2000s is that they started doing huge tie in marketing promotions. M&Ms had a number of movie tie ins over the years 2004 saw the start of the cross media tie ins, And not just with The Wizard of Oz. No instead I mean this beauty below inspired by the Addams Family to promote another limited run on Dark Chocolate M&Ms.
That's not all from '04 though. M&Ms also got big, and I don't mean regular big, I mean OGRE sized!
I actually think this tie in with Shrek 2 is a great one. M&Ms and Shrek are a really perfectly paired brand. But since M&Ms were in the midst of experiments in size and shape 2004 saw the first appearance of the most radical change yet, the M-Azing chocolate bar!
It sounds like the M-Azing bar was only moderately successful. The bar apparently stuck around in some form or another straight through until today and was finally re-branded and re-launched in 2013 as the new M&M chocolate bar. A bit more on that in the next post.
Aside from featuring in the new M-Azing bar, the M&M Minis we're also going strong in '04. I posted a few ads from this era of the Minis in my last blog post on this subject but here is another one to show you where the Mini advertizing was at the time.
At first I thought it seemed like a very 90s ad but then I realized that the M&M minis were being targeted at kids, while regular M&Ms were targeted at everyone.
Speaking of mass marketing the following year M&Ms teamed up with another film franchise that had probably the biggest mass market appeal possible. Watch the ad below to see the M&Ms join the Dark Side...
Watching this I have to wonder why Mars never just out and out put out a Dark Chocolate M&M on a permanent basis. I know they've got a few specialties at all times these days, but its weird that they kept bringing it back as a limited run.
2005 also saw the launch of Mega M&Ms. I'm guessing that the Ogre sized M&Ms went over so well that they decided to continue the line.
I know that ad didn't have the M&M characters in it but its pretty funny..
If the Chocolate M-Pire tie in wasn't the breaking point then it had to be the M&M tie ins for '06. These guys weren't just well known spokes-candies, they were true celebrities unto themselves. In 2006 Red and Yellow made a mark adjacent to Joan Rivers at the Academy Awards pre-show. To me this is huge.
Think about the number of eyeballs on that broadcast. Think about the fact that there are people who care about this from really all over the world. Its pretty serious stuff. I mean as serious as you can get for entertainers who aren't actually stars on the big screen.
They may be super-commercialized.... but can you blame them? I mean they are commercial characters. 2006 also saw ties ins for Pirates 3, and Shrek 3.
Pirates 3 in saw the launch of limited time white chocolate M&Ms, and Shrek the Third saw the return of Ogre sized M&Ms again, as well as this vacation contest.
I'm going to jump ahead a bit now, in 2008 M&Ms finally hit on a weird urban myth for their gain. At Valentines they launched a limited run of all green M&Ms. Green you ask? yes. I'm not sure how well known the rumor is now, but I totally remember as a kid hearing that green M&Ms we're for sexy time...
These also came at Christmas time that year. As good a time as any for an aphrodisiac (weather its true or not).
The summer of 2008 saw another side product launched from M&Ms. The M&M ice cream bar.
Its true...
That's pretty funny :)
New limited time flavors also emerged in 2008. Wild Cherry hit the scene alongside Mint Crisp M&Ms as a promotion tied into Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.
The biggest promotion of 2008 though came with the launch of mymms.com. Now there was finally a chance to change things up, and get your face, or whatever you wanted printed onto your M&Ms. Very exciting stuff.
After this commercial Mars took a different tack making a bunch of pretty funny commercials letting regular people become an M&M.
That ones probably my favorite, but there are some other great ones.
ha, contacts...
Gross but funny.
ha, earholes...
Good stuff all around.
Before I finally wrap this very long blog post up I'll mention one more 2008 M&Ms item. The launch of Premiums. Ms Green finally got something all her own here and it turned out quite well.
5 flavors of premiums were launched. I know I ate a few of them. They had a 'high end' vibe to them and I suppose they were pretty decadent.
Of course we know that Mint has been around since this time in on again off again limited runs, but this is where I first had it. A few more of the flavors were Rasberry Almond, which is actually a current limited run flavor, and Triple Chocolate. Both sound great to me.
I've had these and they do taste great.
mmm... so delicious sounding.
When we come back to this topic, I'll pick up from 2008 and we can watch some more ads together. These crazy M&Ms just became superstars right under your noses... pretty impressive. Thanks all, later :)
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Dairy Milk Caramel review
Today we've got a great one for you. Continuing our look at UK Candy and chocolate here is the Dairy Milk Caramel.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Dairy Milk Caramel - 5 / 5
Another great bar from Cadbury, should we really be surprised at this point, with this and the Caramilk they are just tops in the caramel and chocolate arena! For more on this and all the various Cadbury products you can always surf over to their website http://www.cadbury.co.uk/
For more from the Candy Aisle check out our Reviews Page, and make sure to keep an eye on all the UK Candy specifics over at YouTube.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Dairy Milk Caramel - 5 / 5
Another great bar from Cadbury, should we really be surprised at this point, with this and the Caramilk they are just tops in the caramel and chocolate arena! For more on this and all the various Cadbury products you can always surf over to their website http://www.cadbury.co.uk/
For more from the Candy Aisle check out our Reviews Page, and make sure to keep an eye on all the UK Candy specifics over at YouTube.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Maynards Wine Gums review
Today we've got another Maynards product on tap for review, its time to look at the very popular Maynards Wine Gums!
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Maynards Wine Gums - 4 / 5
For more on all things Maynards and Cadbury please check out this website right here. For more from the Candy Aisle please browse on over to our Reviews Page.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Maynards Wine Gums - 4 / 5
For more on all things Maynards and Cadbury please check out this website right here. For more from the Candy Aisle please browse on over to our Reviews Page.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Aisle Walking - July
Every day while walking down the candy aisle, or the toy aisle, or the ice cream aisle I see fun and weird things. Some of these I want to mention but lots of them are just so brief that I can't be bothered making a stand alone blog post, so to alleviate that I thought I'd try a new blog monthly series called Aisle Walking. Essentially this will be a mish mash of things seen in the aisles. I'd love it to hear about it you have fun things you've seen. New stuff is always showing up and I'm always interested in strange variants on existing products. Now I'm still planning on posting some things on their own, but for the lots of little items this will be the round up.
So lets have a look and see what we can see for this past month or so :)
I found this out at a Staples of all places (that's an office supply store). I don't know why I am surprised to see this, I mean of course Planters should be competing with Reese I'm just surprised that I've never seen this before.
We all know that Red Velvet is the hippest of all cakes, and in cupcake form it cannot be beat. I'm impressed that this package comes with some frosting packets included.
This is just a small note that all of the formerly named "Dessert Delight" products seem to now be called simply Desserts. I noticed this a while ago with the Lemon Square flavor, but am surprised to see the entire line change it up. Could this be an only in Canada thing???
I've seen these Kit Kat flavors (only available in the 8 packs) out at the local Wal Mart for a while now, but they seem to be expanding their reach. I had assumed that they were just going to be limited editions around for a little while, but maybe they'll actually be staying.
So this exists. It shouldn't really be a surprise since Nestle also owns the Carnation brand, but for some reason seeing chocolate bars in other places always strikes me as interesting.
Lets talk cookies for a sec. Seriously these Chunks Ahoy look great! I am sold :D
Birthday Cake flavor Oreos are back. Seriously does it count as a Limited Edition if its been on shelves for like 4 years?!
Now this is new, and it looks amazing! Chocolate and Mint together in a triple stuff? yes please!
I've seen Rolo ice cream before, but did you know there was Rolo Peanut Butter ice cream? Sounds great.
So that's all I've got for you this month. I'll try to make this a regular feature. Its fun to just touch on all of the quick stuff that's going on in the candy aisle and beyond.
So lets have a look and see what we can see for this past month or so :)
I found this out at a Staples of all places (that's an office supply store). I don't know why I am surprised to see this, I mean of course Planters should be competing with Reese I'm just surprised that I've never seen this before.
We all know that Red Velvet is the hippest of all cakes, and in cupcake form it cannot be beat. I'm impressed that this package comes with some frosting packets included.
This is just a small note that all of the formerly named "Dessert Delight" products seem to now be called simply Desserts. I noticed this a while ago with the Lemon Square flavor, but am surprised to see the entire line change it up. Could this be an only in Canada thing???
So this exists. It shouldn't really be a surprise since Nestle also owns the Carnation brand, but for some reason seeing chocolate bars in other places always strikes me as interesting.
Birthday Cake flavor Oreos are back. Seriously does it count as a Limited Edition if its been on shelves for like 4 years?!
Now this is new, and it looks amazing! Chocolate and Mint together in a triple stuff? yes please!
I've seen Rolo ice cream before, but did you know there was Rolo Peanut Butter ice cream? Sounds great.
So that's all I've got for you this month. I'll try to make this a regular feature. Its fun to just touch on all of the quick stuff that's going on in the candy aisle and beyond.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Toffee Crisp review
Today we continue our look at UK Candy with this review of Toffee Crisp.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Toffee Crisp - 4 / 5
Toffee Crisp is a Nestlé product. Find out more about it at its website. For more UK Reviews please stay tuned to our YouTube Channel, or just head over to the Reviews Page for more.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Toffee Crisp - 4 / 5
Toffee Crisp is a Nestlé product. Find out more about it at its website. For more UK Reviews please stay tuned to our YouTube Channel, or just head over to the Reviews Page for more.
Monday, July 29, 2013
The Big Bar Line Up - Wrapped
In case you missed it over the past month or so I posted an extensive look at some of the 'Big bar' chocolates available while walking the Candy Aisle here in Canada. I know it was more of a survey series but I liked all the pretty pictures and even just taking a closer look at them gave me a better understanding of what the various players are trying to achieve.
Does this mean I'll be eating more big bars down the line? I hope so. There are some really great offerings out there, especially from companies like Lindt and Ritter Sport. And hopefully that will translate here to the blog as well, in added reviews on some of the more interesting stuff.
For those who would like to check out the series of posts here they are in one handy dandy list:
Cadbury Dairy Milk
Hershey
Lindt
Ritter Sport
Dove and Godiva
Remainders
It seems like such a short list of posts but believe me it took a very long time to compile these lists with all the pictures involved.
I hope you do take the opportunity to go back and check out any of the posts you may have missed. They're fun looks at whats on the shelves right now. There's some great, and some definitely no so great looking stuff out there. Thanks for reading all :)
Does this mean I'll be eating more big bars down the line? I hope so. There are some really great offerings out there, especially from companies like Lindt and Ritter Sport. And hopefully that will translate here to the blog as well, in added reviews on some of the more interesting stuff.
For those who would like to check out the series of posts here they are in one handy dandy list:
Cadbury Dairy Milk
Hershey
Lindt
Ritter Sport
Dove and Godiva
Remainders
It seems like such a short list of posts but believe me it took a very long time to compile these lists with all the pictures involved.
I hope you do take the opportunity to go back and check out any of the posts you may have missed. They're fun looks at whats on the shelves right now. There's some great, and some definitely no so great looking stuff out there. Thanks for reading all :)
Friday, July 26, 2013
Almond Joy review
Its Friday and that means regular domestic review time. Well more or less domestic... In fact lets all just imagine that todays review bar has whisked us away to your favorite sandy shore. Lets eat some Almond Joy!
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Almond Joy - 3 / 5
For more on AJ, check out their website - Very Nice :)
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Almond Joy - 3 / 5
For more on AJ, check out their website - Very Nice :)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Almost Perfect Candy
I was out in Whitby, Ontario last week and my brother in law clued me into the Almost Perfect store.
This is the kind of store a lot of you may have seen if you live in or near an urban center. This is essentially an irregular food store. It's full of food that's been rejected, not over any health concerns but most likely because the food was discontinued, or possibly seasonal and the major retailers don't want it on the shelves anymore.
You can also find some of these items if you are the kind of person who goes on factory tours. I remember when I was a kid going with my parents to both the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont (or maybe it was headquarters), and most significantly when I went to Hershey Pennsylvania. These factory tours of course ended at the gift shop, and both of these companies offered "irregular" food products there. As a kid this just fascinated me to no end. The products may be slightly off, but they're crazy cheap and just awesome.
Almost Perfect seems to offer more of the straightforward food items focusing on seasonal stuff, maybe with misprinted packaging, or remainders of limited editions. They specifically have a pretty decent candy section too, which was of course my main reason for wanting to go.
Some of the items like this entire stand of Allan candy was a bit weird. I'm not sure why any of it wouldn't be on the market. These are the guys who make "Big Foot" and I'm sure I'll get to their products sooner or later in reviews. These are weird flavors, so maybe they were just limited time or discontinued. Hard to tell since I'm not that familiar with their product lineup.
More likely is seeing something like this Imported Continental European Dark Chocolate. Seems fine and all, but nothing I would imagine anyone would buy, especially if its not an in house brand or some kind of off-shoot loss leader to get people into the store. Without a good brand name behind it why on earth is anyone buying it? My guess is they are not. And that's why it's at Almost Perfect.
Here is a very interesting one, and something I wish I could've reviewed. But I wouldn't feel right reviewing something from Almost Perfect when I really don't know why its there. Most likely this unique variation on the classic Hershey bar didn't sell and was discontinued, but I don't know.... maybe it was awful, or maybe its still in development. Whenever the reason its not sticking around I don't think Hershey wants it representing them.
Do you suppose these Reese Eggs were sitting around in a warehouse since Easter? My guess is yes. The sure tasted great though, I bought a bunch of these!
Here are some great looking Red White and Blue M&Ms. I suppose these are from this past 4th of July. We'll see if they turn up again next year.
I love the idea of Fierce Cinnamon Hot Tamales. Do you think maybe they were too fierce for the public? Are these still available in real life?
Here's another one that I'm not sure of. Don't these exist on the market now? Why is this one here? Could it be because it has the "New" label on it?
Finally a simple question. Whats wrong with all these Jolly Ranchers???
This is totally a store that's good and bad at the same time. I mean how cool is it going to a store to get something no one else has? BUT then the truth sinks in, maybe other people don't want this stuff. for a reason...
I'll have to keep my eye out for more 'irregular' candy, or off the beaten path kind of stuff. Let me know in the comments if you've ever been to a store like this and what your impression has been.
Thanks for joining me, later all.
This is the kind of store a lot of you may have seen if you live in or near an urban center. This is essentially an irregular food store. It's full of food that's been rejected, not over any health concerns but most likely because the food was discontinued, or possibly seasonal and the major retailers don't want it on the shelves anymore.
You can also find some of these items if you are the kind of person who goes on factory tours. I remember when I was a kid going with my parents to both the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont (or maybe it was headquarters), and most significantly when I went to Hershey Pennsylvania. These factory tours of course ended at the gift shop, and both of these companies offered "irregular" food products there. As a kid this just fascinated me to no end. The products may be slightly off, but they're crazy cheap and just awesome.
Almost Perfect seems to offer more of the straightforward food items focusing on seasonal stuff, maybe with misprinted packaging, or remainders of limited editions. They specifically have a pretty decent candy section too, which was of course my main reason for wanting to go.
Some of the items like this entire stand of Allan candy was a bit weird. I'm not sure why any of it wouldn't be on the market. These are the guys who make "Big Foot" and I'm sure I'll get to their products sooner or later in reviews. These are weird flavors, so maybe they were just limited time or discontinued. Hard to tell since I'm not that familiar with their product lineup.
More likely is seeing something like this Imported Continental European Dark Chocolate. Seems fine and all, but nothing I would imagine anyone would buy, especially if its not an in house brand or some kind of off-shoot loss leader to get people into the store. Without a good brand name behind it why on earth is anyone buying it? My guess is they are not. And that's why it's at Almost Perfect.
Here is a very interesting one, and something I wish I could've reviewed. But I wouldn't feel right reviewing something from Almost Perfect when I really don't know why its there. Most likely this unique variation on the classic Hershey bar didn't sell and was discontinued, but I don't know.... maybe it was awful, or maybe its still in development. Whenever the reason its not sticking around I don't think Hershey wants it representing them.
Do you suppose these Reese Eggs were sitting around in a warehouse since Easter? My guess is yes. The sure tasted great though, I bought a bunch of these!
I love the idea of Fierce Cinnamon Hot Tamales. Do you think maybe they were too fierce for the public? Are these still available in real life?
Here's another one that I'm not sure of. Don't these exist on the market now? Why is this one here? Could it be because it has the "New" label on it?
Finally a simple question. Whats wrong with all these Jolly Ranchers???
This is totally a store that's good and bad at the same time. I mean how cool is it going to a store to get something no one else has? BUT then the truth sinks in, maybe other people don't want this stuff. for a reason...
I'll have to keep my eye out for more 'irregular' candy, or off the beaten path kind of stuff. Let me know in the comments if you've ever been to a store like this and what your impression has been.
Thanks for joining me, later all.
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