Pretzel M&M's Ad

Pretzel M&M's voted the 2011 Consumer Product of the Year in the snacks category. Brought to you by Mars, there's a new ad that I knew you'd want to see. Music: 80s song - Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" from Dirty Dancing in this ad for Pretzel M&M's from BBDO, New York.

In case you've missed it, Pretzel M&M's have crunchy pretzel inside milk chocolate inside the colored candy shell.

Little known fact? "m" wasn't printed on the candy until 1950 and were originally black, not white.

Enjoy! Who doesn't like salty and sweet?

Colonial Chocolate

Since it's American Chocolate Week - let's talk about the history of American Chocolate!

Did you know MARS has a Historic Division?  It was established in 2006 with the goal of becoming the undisputed leader in chocolate history.  (You go, MARS!).  Their marketing company sent me a really cool box of their new American Heritage Chocolate.  It's made with only ingredients available during the 17th century.  Hmmmmm.........let's investigate.

Isn't this packaging fabulous?  A VERY cool wooden box:

A beautifully printed book and DVD were in the box.  MARS researched the ingredients and used them to re-create colonial chocolate.  The colonial chocolate making process is recreated in the video.

There were some samples - these are chocolate sticks:

This bag contained more chocolate sticks, but there's also hot chocolate mix in the line.

This contained a big chocolate block designed to grate, shave or melt and use on desserts:

I'm thinking maybe this would be terrific for Colonial Williamsburg or other museums.  Might be really cool for teachers to use with their students.  Definitely a niche product.  (You can check all this out for yourself at http://www.americanheritagechocolate.com/ - a very well done website.) 

But for the rest of us...um....it's just not that great.  I don't want to eat more of this - too dry.  It does have a strong chocolate taste, but I'd rather have just a regular old chocolate bar.  Or a handful of        M & Ms.  We've come a long way, baby!

But I love MARS for innovation and cool marketing!

My Heart Belongs to Snickers Peanut Butter

I made it back to North Carolina without getting killed or maimed - yay!  The last day of Candy Expo was insane - I have never seen so many people trying to grab everything the poor booth holders didn't have tied down!  What a bunch of greedy vultures!  I'm just thankful for all the samples I got and for all the booth holders who were so generous and kind to me.

One of the companies, Promotions in Motion, had a booth where you could get your picture taken and put on the front of the NCA Magazine.  It was free to all.  How cool is this?

More shots from the expo floor:

Love this elegant "conference room" in the Turin booth:

Can't you just tell they are doing big candy business?

I got one, I got one!  On the second day of the Expo, Hershey's pulled out the Reese's Minis samples:

Look how tiny and how perfect they are!  And as Hershey VP Tom Joyce pointed out as he gave one to me - they got the ratio just right.  These taste just like the regular size Reese's!  Go Hershey!

I scored the Drops on the second day too!

These have a shiny finish that keeps them from melting and taste just like a Hershey Bar.  If you like Hershey's milk chocolate - you'll love these!

Both come out December 3rd.

And check out the Mars booth:

Mars gave the media a great bag with tons of samples and sponsored the press room.  I wish Hershey did the same.  I had a tough time getting one sample of the new candies from Hershey.  Here are the new products Mars was showcasing - I've already reviewed several of these, but there is one that is my new love. 

First let me show you all the cool seasonal items they are going to have out this year.  First dark chocolate and cherry swirl Dove hearts:

And look at these great tin heart boxes for Valentine's Day:

And here's a new Three Musketeers for Easter - marshmallow!!

And a new Dove egg flavor - coconut (Kris - just for you!):

Ha - cute!!!

Dove Snowflakes for Christmas:

And cherry and pretzel Christmas packaging:

And my favorite of all the treats - my new forever love - Snickers peanut butter:

Not a bar - two delicious squares:

Look at all that creamy, delicious peanut butter!!  These are just so damn good!!  But they don't come out until December.  All I can say is this might be the best Christmas EVER!!

I don't need to go on another match.com date - I have found the love of my life.

It was sooooo worth the wait!

Mock Chocolate

It's a damn good thing I don't get paid for this - I'd be so fired.

I actually sat in the Mars press conference at Candy Expo where they announced their "Real Chocolate Relief Act" on May 19th. Obviously I am not getting you breaking news. Basically each Friday they are giving away chocolate. Just go to www.realchocolate.com and sign up (no need to go until after 9:00 am Friday). You sign up and they mail you a coupon. You might use your coupon to check out some of their new products:

Strawberried Peanut Butter M & M's are out. (I say bleech, Reese's Pieces are so much better). But, hey if you get them for free, try them!! Live large baby!!

M & M's Coconut is coming out in July - see what you think.

And in August - Snickers Fudge!!! These rock - you should definitely get one of these - free or not.

Why are they doing this? Well they want to promote the fact that their candy is made from real chocolate, not mockolate as some of their competitors' candy is. I'm betting they know that most people will get a free bar and buy more bars, but I'm only guessing. I'm assuming Mars is still a capitalist company and isn't doing this just to redistribute their chocolate. But, hey, these days, who knows?

Here's a detailed explanation of "mockolate," a term I believe was coined by Cybele of Candy Blog. This is from wisegeek.com:


The term “mockolate” is used derisively to describe candy products made with cocoa solids, but no cocoa butter. Legally, such products cannot be labeled as “chocolate,” but instead must be called “chocolate candy,” “chocolate coating,” or some variation thereof, so that consumers understand that cocoa butter is not present. Mockolate is typically produced by companies trying to cut costs, since cocoa butter can be extremely expensive, and many companies feel that keeping the size of familiar candies the same is very important, even if the ingredients must change to keep costs down.

Real chocolate includes both cocoa solids and cocoa butter, the two components extracted from the cacao bean when it is crushed in preparation for making chocolate. Making chocolate is actually a very complicated process, as the components are first separated and then carefully blended back together in varying amounts, along with other ingredients, to produce the desired chocolate product. The cocoa solids contribute much of the flavor, while the cocoa butter adds the rich, creamy mouthfeel which people associate with chocolate.

When mockolate is produced, cocoa solids are blended with another source of fat, typically vegetable oil. According to producers, mockolate tastes the same as true chocolate in blind taste tests, but some foodies disagree. They claim that mockolate has a flat, greasy flavor and lacks the mouthfeel of true chocolate.

Because many people have a negative perception of mockolate, companies often use misleading labeling so that consumers believe they are buying real chocolate. When companies switch from chocolate to mockolate, for example, their product packaging may remain the same. Indications that a product contains mockolate include the use of very small letters describing “chocolate cream,” “chocolate coating,” or “chocolate candy” in the product, rather than prominent lettering boasting “chocolate” or “milk chocolate.”

Bastards!

Hey - I'm just saying be careful out there. Ultimately I think the taste of the total candy will determine what consumers buy. For me if Reese's is covered with mockolate, I'm still in!

So enjoy the summer! Get some free chocolate!

Live from Chicago - It's Candy Expo!!

Oh my God.

I am overwhelmed. I have never seen so much candy in one place in my life. My head is spinning and I have ingested enough chocolate for 10 people.

To give you an idea of how big Candy Expo is, the NCA (National Confectioners Association) press release says the Expo "encompasses nearly 10 football fields." Ten. Think how big ONE football field is. This is ten. Holy God.

Believe me, that is a lot of booths. I realized early on I was going to have to focus only on chocolate to have any chance of making it through. (Jonny and Matty I have failed you - but I do have all the scoop for next year. And Haribo had a tasting bar - like a Haribo buffet. I wept that you weren't there. We'll have to talk.)



I don't have pictures for you - they are weird about that, but I might try to take some tomorrow. Some of the booths are pretty amazing. All are colorful and gorgeous. And look how much candy I have:

Do you see that? It's amazing and disturbing all at the same time. How will I ever blog about it all? How will I make good on all the promises I made to get the samples? What if some of the nicest people have the worst candy? I do think I might have sold my soul to get candy today. Well at least part of my soul. Or maybe I just prostituted myself.

It's not that there weren't plenty of samples everywhere. It was that sometimes I really wanted the good stuff. And it's not like I'm a buyer. These people are there to make money, not deal with random motivational speakers who blog. What the hell is that about anyway? So sometimes I had to make promises. Basically I was charming people into giving me the good stuff. (Yep - I'm a chocolate 'ho.)

But let me tell you - overall - this was one great group. Master Chef Michael Antonorsi fixed me a cup of fabulous hot cocoa and sat down and talked with me about his philosophy of chocolate making! He was gracious and wonderful and brilliant and kind. The Mars representative for Seeds of Change - I will have to get her name tomorrow - gave me one of all of their full sized bars! That would be seven different flavors! We discussed distribution and positioning - it was cool! Erik Hemp and Kathleen Wells of Nestle hooked me up with their new product - Baby Ruth Crisp - which totally rocks!! You'll have to get your hands on one of these when they come out. I might have to go by and get more tomorrow. I am a sick, sick woman.

I also attended a blogger luncheon (thanks Carl and Susan) and an official Mars press conference. YAHOO!! At the press conference, they talked about their new chocolate relief act - where they are giving away free chocolate and are making all their products with real chocolate (not fake chocolate which is what's in so many candy bars today). Check out http://www.realchocolate.com/ to read more and find out about your free chocolate. It's really sad that we THINK we're getting chocolate, but some candy makers are substituting cheaper ingredients for the cocoa butter. Bastards!

All the M & M's were at the press conference (no Naked Cowboy in sight) and we all got cool give away bags with more candy. And get this!! M & M's are coming out with two new flavors - coconut and strawberry & peanut butter. They are in the bag and I'll be reviewing soon!

Snickers has a fudge bar - I also have and will be reviewing soon.

Nestle has cranberry Raisinets (although can they be Raisinets if they are cranberry?) Who cares - I'll be reviewing them also.

Dove Promises are now available in peanut butter! YUM!

Reese's Dark is coming out. Also York Peppermint Patty Pieces and Almond Joy Pieces and Hershey Special Dark Pieces. Also Hershey's Bliss will be out in white chocolate.

Tootsie Pops are out in banana - limited edition.

How cool is all of this? I also came across many companies I had never heard of. And I skipped over all the gum and snack and sour and all the other crazy candies. I snubbed Russell Stover and Palmer because you know how I feel about them. But I may go by tomorrow for the hell of it. If it wasn't chocolate, I didn't bother. It's just all too big!

I need to go through all the literature and business cards I picked up and try and put everything in some kind of order. I'll be at the Expo all day tomorrow, then I have to fly out to Alabama for a speech on Thursday. Thursday night I'll be flying back to Raleigh. So it may be a few days before I post again, but trust me, it will be worth the wait!

YAHOO!!!!

More Eggstravaganza!! Cuckco for Coconut

I have to tell you, I still don't know how or why coconut became an Easter/Spring flavor. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know. I mean, why not banana? Or orange? Or the dreaded and horrifying lavender? But, hey, I'm rolling with it. (The White House doesn't have the only Egg Roll in town.)


The first coconut offering is from Lake Champlain Chocolates (LCC). This egg is dark chocolate with their awesome logo on it:







I hate to say this, because I love LCC, but this coconut is a joke. It's a great dark chocolate egg, but the chocolate completely overwhelms this "coconut" filling. I say "coconut" because it didn't really taste like anything other than dark chocolate.





I have another bone to pick with LCC. This egg was part of an assortment:





The assortment has six flavors - gorgeous colors - very pretty. But when I took them all out and counted them, it had:



9 java - boo!

9 peanut butter - yea!

5 hazelnut

4 coconut

2 raspberry

1 caramel



Call me crazy, but I expected a more even mix. I only got 1 caramel (which I LOVE) and 9 java (which I hate). Not happy. I think we need to redraw the egg districts.



You know how I feel about Russell Stover. I bought their crummy candy at Halloween and again at Christmas and then decided No Mas! Compared to all the other chocolate makers, I just found their stuff inferior. But they had some great egg flavors I hadn't tried, so I decided to give them yet another chance.






They don't look bad - hell, even Russell Stover can make an egg shape. (Santas are WAY out of their league, but they can handle the egg). I like the nest - it's cute and using the jelly beans actually took some creativity! Go RS, it's your holiday!


The nest is really good, it is basically the Christmas Wreath I loved with three jelly beans on it. Nice and coconutty, moist - the only RS candy I really, really like.

The egg, however, is disappointing. It's the only egg that says it's a coconut CREAM egg, so maybe that explains why it's a little more gooey than all the others:

I think the "cream" might be marshmallow. This tasted sweet and not very coconutty. I didn't like it. If you like coconut, get the nest, forget the egg. (Boy, if only more people took that advice......)

You can't talk about coconut without talking about:

I was REALLY looking forward to eating this egg. I always liked Almond Joys, but I haven't had one in forever. Now get this - it has a weird taste. The only way I can describe it is like a cooking odor got into it. I know, gross, right? But that was what it was like. I opened another sealed one, tried it too - same thing. I don't know if I got a bad batch or what, but these were seriously disappointing.

The final coconut egg is from See's Easter candy - it's the giant one at the bottom:

See's has an Eggsortment (my make up word - you know I work fast and loose with the English language) containing peanut butter, coconut, and two flavors we'll review next. I like the sheer size of these eggs. Yay See's!

See's coconut egg is much better than Stover's, but it's very sweet. I like more a coconut taste. But of the eggs, See's was the best. And the biggest! WooHoo!

LCC has to get an honorable mention (even though I am still bitter about the assortment) for the deliciousness of their chocolate. It was definitely the best of the bunch. (or the dozen - eggs don't really come in a bunch, coconuts do........).

Now this isn't an egg, this is a bar made by Mars but not available everywhere. I got this one at World Market. It looks a lot like an Almond Joy (sans Almonds):

This bar ROCKS! It was the best of all the entries - at least as far as coconut goes. Nice chewy chunks of coconut - yum! Looks just like the Almond Joy egg when autopsied, so no real info there. If you're looking for a good coconut bar, this is the one for you. Happy Easter, My Little Coconut!

This visit to Vegas has been a little bittersweet. That's because Afghanistan Affair man and I talked about coming here when he got back. Bastard. (Oops, did I type that out loud?) I've been to Vegas several times (solo every one) and I've always thought that it would be a great place to go with someone you were into. I mean, let's face it - Vegas IS Sin City. It's sexy. It's fun. It's hot! But, c'est la vie. The hope of finding somebody to share stuff like this with is what keeps me trying.

However, mostly the trip has been sweet. The weather is amazing, the town is packed (Spring Break and March Madness), and I'm here making money. I'm also sitting in my room at the gorgeous Bellagio enjoying the view:






See the mountains? And the water? That's where the fabulous Bellagio Fountains are - I can see them too when the shows on. How cool is this???

Not only is the view great, the Bellagio is decorated for spring and it is gorgeous:

Now that's some yard art I can live with! That globe has water coursing over it and it is breathtaking.

The speech went well (the BP does come in handy!) and I spent the rest of my day checking out the chocolate situation. One of the places mentioned in the LA Times - Chocolate at the Wynn - is closed. Boo!

But M & M World is alive and packed:

Now you have to admire the genius of M & M World. Every time I've ever been in one (Vegas,Times Square) it has been packed. This one is FOUR floors of M & Ms promotional items that people are falling all over each other to buy. People (myself included) are paying to buy marketing materials. I bought a M & M hoodie for $42 and I love it! I will plaster the M & M logo on my body and pay to do it! I love M & Ms and I want the world to know it! There was even a celebrity there:





I wonder if he's single?

You could also make your own color combination of M & Ms choosing from just about every color imaginable. Lowe's paint section ain't got nuthin' on Mars. At $11.99 a pound (good God!) these were flying out the door. Take that, Naked Cowboy.

But, of course, I didn't stop there.

There's a Vosges Store in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. The Forum Shops are my favorite place to shop in Vegas. I love the ceiling that changes as if you were outside. I like the cheesy Greek statuary and the fountains. And they have some very high-end shops, but a good mix of affordable ones too. Oh - I saw the Cher store - she's performing out here. And the stuff was cool - kind of hip and Gothy. But if I met a guy wearing a Cher shirt - that would scare me. But I digress. Vegas does that to me - too many shiny objects.

Love the saying in the window: one taste and my lips were seething. Vosges is just soooo cool.

I was intrigued by this because I didn't really think seething seemed quite right, but number two in the definition is right on:

–verb (used without object)
1.to surge or foam as if boiling. (uh...maybe not, eww)
2.to be in a state of agitation or excitement. (oh, yes)
3.Archaic. to boil.

Oh - the fountains are going right now! WOW! It's dusk and they are lit up - so romantic. Sigh.

Anyway - I went a little crazy in Vosges. But, hey, I passed by all those ritzy designers and I don't gamble - what's a ton of chocolate? And I got something I have been dying to try. One of their cheese truffles:

I didn't have my autopsy tools, so I had to bite this one to show you the inside.

Gotta tell you - didn't like it. Ate one, trashed the other. At $2.75 each this wasn't the cheapest experiment. Hey - I guess I DO gamble! The money that goes to Vegas STAYS in Vegas!

The cheese taste wasn't too overpowering, but it was definitely there and I just don't think the combination does much for either chocolate or cheese. But you may like it. I didn't like the bacon chocolate combo either but some people do. I think these two are fads that will not stand the test of time. But hey, the Circus Peanut is still around, so what do I know?

I also went to Payard and have great shots of the chocolate fountain at Bellagio. But I'll save those for next time. Wish you all were here with me - we would be having a blast!!

The one good thing about being a solo traveler is you can spend as much time as you want doing whatever you want to do. It would be the rare man who would want to hike up and down the strip in search of chocolate. Freedom is a beautiful, beautiful thing. I am so lucky to be here, to have work that I adore, and a shopping bag full of some of the best chocolate in the world. I just need to stop thinking about what I don't have and start celebrating what I do have. Motivation by chocolate!!