Old Ads intro

Along with being a fan of all things candy and chocolate, I am also a fan of advertizing. If you've watched the reviews here you know I like packaging, and appreciate good graphics, so I suppose it makes sense that advertizing has always been of interest. So for the next few weeks we're going to be looking at some fun old candy advertizing in a series of posts.

I've always been a fan of comic books, grew up reading mostly Marvel stuff, stopped in the 90s then started again in the 00s when the Ultimate line came out. Now I buy and read trade paperbacks (collected editions of story arcs), for both Marvel and DC stuff, and I really enjoy it. One of the things I miss about buying single issues though, especially back when I was a kid in the 80s was the advertizing. Seriously, even back then I loved comic book ads, there was so much life to them, so much fun. There were celebrity endorsements from people like OJ Simpson, and sometimes even the comic book characters themselves got into it. Moving into the late 80s and 90s the advertizing seems to turn almost exclusively to video games, but if you go back especially into the 60s and 70s you'll see lots of advertizing for candy and snacks. For this first series of looks into old ads we'll be checking out a few comic book ads that I found while looking in my collection. Unfortunately I've sold off a lot of my single issues in favor of trades and most of the stuff I've got is from the 80s so there isn't as much true "Silver Age" advertizing, but what I found is a lot of fun.

Today I've got two ads to kick this series off the first is for Reese's Pieces.

Oh the 80s... seriously this ad just makes me smile. I pulled it from the Web of Spider-Man #2, which came out in October of '85. The ad is obviously still riding the wave of love from the 1982 film E.T. with a questionably cute alien who loves chocolate and peanut butter. He's got the wrinkly old man thing mixed with Disney eyes, and the odd mix of technology in his chestplate-collar thing and savagery in his utter lack of other clothing and furry mid-section. Why people find this endearing is a mystery to me, but that was the norm for family friendly aliens in the 80s. I love the ad, but I have to question why they couldn't just get E.T. for the image? I mean I understand that it's a licensing issue, but E.T. famously ate Reese's Pieces in the movie... that's what helped make the candy so popular in the first place. Couldn't The Hershey Company afford the license fee? Or did they feel like they just didn't need the famous Extra Terrestrial... We'll probably never know. Great ad though.

One more today, and this one's quick, check out this ad for Lifesavers!

An advertizement and a maze in one??? I'm in! Mazes are awesome! And Lifesavers... oh remember Lifesavers everyone? I pulled this ad from a 1982 issue of What If...?, #37. I know the candy is probably still around somewhere, but Lifesavers we're huge in the 80s. At least they were huge with me. This is the original 5 flavors Lifesavers as well, before the market got over-saturated with Jolly Ranchers, and 101 different mints. These, probably along with Tic Tacs were the highpoint of 80s impulse purchases while you were waiting in line at the grocery store. I was a big fan as a kid and this ad makes me nostalgic. The ad itself has a nice circular theme here with the candy and the maze, although "finding your way to the delicious lifesavers center" is a bit odd since Lifesavers have no center... That line may have been more appropriate for a Tootsie Pop maze. Regardless, I still really like it. And its promoting both Lifesavers roll candy as well as Lifesavers lollipops. Honestly I don't know that I've ever had a Lifesavers Lollipop. Sounds like a good idea, but it never crossed my path... and whats the striped flavor? maybe candy cane peppermint? Those are the colors for it at least. hmm. If anyone out there remembers these lollipops let me know what they were like in the comments.

Definitely some fun advertisements here. Next time, we'll take a look at some bubble gum ads. I'm looking forward to it!

Easter reviews roundup...

For those of you who may have missed a few of the Easter posts. Here is a roundup of the various Easter reviews from Walking the Candy Aisle. If you've been liking these reviews, please drop me a line, and please subscribe to the blog. That's probably the easiest way to make sure you don't miss a beat. Thanks :)

Lindor Milk and White Milk Chocolate Truffles - written / video
Cadbury Mini Eggs - written / video
Whoppers Mini Robin Eggs - written / video
Russell Stover Peanut Butter egg - written / video
Cadbury Chocolate Creme Egg - written / video
Lindt Gold Bunny - written / video
Cadbury Caramel Egg - written / video
Cadbury Creme Egg - written / video
Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Egg - written / video

Thanks for checking them out and remember all of the reviews are listed over on the Reviews Page.

On a slightly more meta note, I'm hoping you'll see some quality improvements in the videos over the next little while. I'm working on a few simple changes to make them run a bit more smoothly (like mounting the camera), Please bear with me as I work to improve. And let me know if you have suggestions, or see something you really enjoy that you'd like to see more of on the site.

PayDay - video review

Back once again with a bonus review in honor of Tax Day. Today we're looking at PayDay.



Hopefully you aren't paying this year. Best to everyone. For more on the PayDay candy bar, check out the written review or all of the reviews on the Reviews Page.

PayDay review

Today is TAX DAY here in the States.

Well technically this year it will actually get pushed to Monday since its the weekend, but April 15th has traditionally been the day Americans have to file their taxes. I think we can all agree that even if you don't end up having to pay out on tax day, the process of doing your taxes all around sucks. So in honor of Tax Day and hopefully to make the day just a little bit better I've got a review for you of PayDay.

Truth be told, I have never had one of these before in my life. I'm not sure if they aren't available in Canada, or somehow I just skipped over it, but I've always passed PayDay by in favor of other chocolate bars. No longer though, I am very excited to try this candy bar.

Looking at the packaging I'm impressed. Its bold. Until the recent influx of coconut bars and the like I don't think there were very many candy bars in white packaging. I love how it stands out though, and rightly so. This is a pretty unique bar. A "Peanut Caramel bar"... and nope it doesn't have a hint of chocolate anywhere near it. This is serious stuff.

 Looking at the bar itself I'm impressed again. Lots of peanuts coat the outside of a caramel stick, and they're all pretty well stuck in there. I think one fell off but that's a good ratio considering the entire bar is covered in them. And the smell is great. It smells like... well like peanuts and caramel.

Biting into it I got a bit of a surprise. For some reason I had imagined that there would be peanuts throughout the bar; instead this is really a pure stick of caramel that's been rolled in peanuts as its final outer coating. Not bad by any means just not what I was expecting. As for the taste, well the first thing I noticed was that the peanuts were really good, and pretty heavily salted. Since I like salted peanuts I'm a fan already. Getting into the caramel though there's even more to enjoy. The caramel is soft enough to bite through without issue. I don't feel like I'm killing my jaw to chomp it up, and it has that mild melt to it that good caramel has. I like how it mixes with the peanuts and thankfully other than a little bit of peanut nothing significant got caught in my teeth (always another concern with peanut and / or caramel).

I definitely dig this bar, there's no pretension to it. What you see is what you get. That's refreshing in and of itself, but the bar is really pretty good too. I am surprised at how solid PayDay is, and I think I'll definitely have it again.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates PayDay - 4 / 5

PayDay is manufactured by The Hershey Company, find more from them here, or check out www.paydaybar.com

Kit Kat - video review

Finally moving on from Easter fare, today we've got your regularly scheduled weekly review and it's a great one. Prepare yourself for Kit Kat!


Check out more in the written review, or peruse all of the reviews on the Reviews Page.

Kit Kat review

Welcome to yet another review from Walking the Candy Aisle. Today we've got a classic, we're looking at Kit Kat.

Kit Kat has been a part of my life for such a long time it has some serious nostalgia for me. It was always a great candy bar to get because I was so often forced to share with my big sister. Kit Kat, along with Twix were some of the first chocolate bars I knew of that had easily divisible sections. Not that I really enjoyed sharing, but at least e couldn't argue about who got the bigger piece with a Kit Kat

The packaging is another classic. Fun bright red with a white Kit Kat font that really pops off the wrapper. I always appreciate a bar that shows its wares on the package too. There is a clear picture of what to expect when you get inside a Kit Kat and that's appreciated. The description of "Crisp wafers in milk chocolate" is also plain and straightforward.

Getting into the bar, when you take it out of the packaging you'll find four Kit Kat sticks, these are easy to separate and give a satisfying snap when broken apart. In fact the snap has become so well known that the noise is incorporated into their advertising.

The milk chocolate smells good, and biting into the bar gives pretty much what they promised. the wafers are crisp, but don't taste like much, really they provide a texture that adds to the experience. The chocolate is decent, nothing amazing, but solid all around. I really like the design though, the bar itself is built like a layer cake: chocolate, wafer, chocolate, wafer, chocolate, wafer, chocolate. Its very cool.

My only gripe is that the chocolate on the outside of the bar began to melt off and onto my fingers. Yes that could be that the room I'm in is a bit too warm, still I'm not a huge fan of chocolate smear on my fingers.

Overall this is a really decent chocolate bar. I don't think I'd ever say it was a favorite of mine, but its got an unwavering spot in the top few.

Waking the Candy Aisle rates Kit Kat - 4 / 5

Kit Kat is a product of H.B. Reese Candy Co, a division of The Hershey Company, find out more at http://www.hersheys.com/

Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Egg - video review

Here with one final Easter candy review, this one's from the remainder bin. Picked up for a mere 25 cents! Its time to look at the Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Egg.



Check out more thoughts in the written review, or browse all of the reviews on the Reviews Page.

Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Egg review

Lets do this one more time shall we... Today I've got some remainder Easter candy for another bonus review, it's the Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Egg.

Despite the fact that they spelled "cream" the proper way instead of "creme" like the other chocolate Easter eggers, I think we're in for a treat here. Russell Stover doesn't have a ton of competition in this arena, unlike their showing on the other egg front. And these confections are more varied, and have less to contend with, so we're already off to a good start.

Let's begin though, as we do, by looking at the packaging. It's pink and green with suitable Easter and strawberry themery involved. A few eggs, a bow, and not much else. Although I can't help but note that "Hand crafted in small batches" is registered (for some reason). And we also learn that this is "Naturally flavored, and covered in milk chocolate." Well, hooray for us...let's just open it and eat it already...

The chocolate itself looks good. It's bigger than it could've been and I appreciate that. It's also roughly egg shaped, adding to the proper thematic motif, And finally I have to say I like the drizzle of chocolate on the top. Sure it's very un-egglike, but it looks good.

Biting into the egg is a great experience. The chocolate is soft and is really just designed to keep the star of the show contained. The strawberry cream filling is in charge here, and it declares itself proudly. There's a gooey-ness and a moistness that suits the egg well. If this was say, as thick in consistency as a box of chocolates version of Strawberry cream it just wouldn't work. This cream is so good because its airy, light, and well flavored.

I know Easter is technically over now, but I really think if you're a fan of strawberry you should check this one out. And hey, if you can't find it, just wait until October and you'll get many, many more Russell Stover products for Halloween.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates the Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Egg 4 / 5

Its solid all around, and since I do so love strawberry I'll be happy to eat a few of these for the good of the team. This is a Russell Stover product, find out more at http://www.russellstover.com/

Remains of the Day

It's always a sad sight the day after a holiday... Barren, or decimated candy aisles. Not a shred of their former glory.

There's a lot of things going on The Day After. At chain retail stores like my Walgreens prices are automatically dropped. Then come the Vultures. One time my wife and I went to Target right when it opened on the morning after Halloween, and I'll tell you honestly it was one of the scariest experiences you could imagine in a Target. The vultures were waiting of course and as soon as the doors opened they literally rushed the store. Grabbing candy and chocolate by the fistful. It was utter madness. We ended up braving the fray but I felt a distinctly sour taste in my mouth afterwards. I just don't want to be one of those people... And there are better ways to get candy on the cheap.

After the vultures have picked the best stuff away at the initial discount, at about the 2 - 3 day mark, that's when you want to really hit it. That's when the sweet spot comes around. 50% off signs change to 75% off, and all the leftovers are so cheap you can't help but pick them up.

Sure you're not getting the premium candy. All the really good stuff is gone at the 40-50% off stage, but what you get at the 75% off stage is the bulk stuff. If you time your visits to the candy aisle just right and manage to get there the day they change over to that Stage 2 clearance you're in luck because all of the Peeps, Russell Stover cream eggs, and a few other items that are distributed en-mass will be on great discount. Don't leave it too long though, or you'll end up rifling through a hundred dark chocolate and coconut eggs, just to find a single last caramel. And at that point (say a week and a half after the holiday) it just starts to feel dirty.

The guys at Walgreens told me they were making room for a Mother's Day section. Remember back in the day when there wasn't one candy holiday after another? I'm interested to really have a close look at what they post for mothers day. Will it just be nice boxes of chocolates? or something else?

We'll have to wait and see on that one. As for the remainder candy... well here's my haul so far. I'll keep you updated on what becomes of the remainders as the days move on. Until then I've got some good treats to keep me occupied.

Cadbury Creme Egg - video review

Happy Easter all, today I've got a classic review for you. It's time to have a look at the Cadbury Creme Egg.


Check out more in the written review, or browse all of the reviews on the Reviews Page. I hope you all found a basket of chocolate eggs today. Thanks for joining, and have a great holiday!