Originally intended to document my experience of DeLorean ownership, focus is often radical and strange, boring and obtuse.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Halloween Candy Oscars 2012

Halloween 2012 would be dead if it weren't for Betty Crocker, Mars Foods and Kraft Foods/Cadbury.

Halloween is creeping up on us again (pun intended) which means it's time for the Halloween Candy Oscars yet again. One of you is probably saying "It's about damn time!" And my other reader is likely closing my blog right now. Go suck a banana, Jody.

Disappointment is in the air for 2012. As I've said, Halloween's popularity cycles and so does the candy. This year it was nearly impossible to find good Halloween-themed treats.

Spooky Eyes gumballs and Frankford's Gummy Body Parts, as great as they are, have not changed one bit from last year. And many things I've awarded prizes to in the past are long dead and gone, buried in the candy graveyard.

This year I chose three products I'd never seen before to do battle for the best Halloween candy of 2012.

I did not sneeze. This is Screme Egg goo. Awesome.The first is certainly brand new - Cadbury's Screme Egg. A sick twist on the Easter Creme egg gives us a creepy new Halloween treat. I purchased a box of 50 mini Screme Eggs for about $9. the box claims 50 eggs but I counted 51. Green goo and an amazing marketing campaign really boost the Screme Egg. But it's difficult to separate the marketing from the product. In the end, the egg is virtually identical to the regular egg.

Next is Betty Crocker's Halloween Fruit Flavored Snacks which I picked up in the good ol' USA for less than $4. Betty Crocker? Making Halloween shit? You better believe it jackasses! These may well have been available in previous years. I have not seen them before, however.Ain't no crock! Betty's pumpin' out 'ween shit. At first I nearly passed on them, thinking they'd just "Halloweened" the packaging with nice traditional costume silhouettes: Ghost, Fairy, Devil, Witch and uh... dude in a top hat. Note to candy companies: you CANNOT simply change your packaging for Halloween! It is NOT acceptable! It's a cop out, and frankly a bit embarrassing.

Betty, on the other hand, offers wicked "spooky shapes" such as a spider, a jack-o-lantern, a witch's hat, a ghost, a bat, and scaredy cat. Nicely done. The box suggests 28 pouches are inside and that is precisely what I counted. The packet I opened didn't have the cat or the spider. But what I tasted was delicious grape & orange flavours.

Finally, a chocolate product. Kudos to Mars Foods for their Snickers Pumpkins. Again, this is something I picked up in the USA and haven't seen before. Snickers Jacks are sweet in more ways than one.At 62.4 grams, each pair of 'kins is the equivalent of a chocolate bar. Each cost me a dollar whopping 50 at a gas station. I didn't care. I was excited to find a new Halloween treat!

And the Snickers Pumpkin did not disappoint. It's a smooth molded jack-o-lantern with spooky Snickery caramel & peanuts condensed inside. I think I actually prefer this to a regular Snickers! Even the package is spooked up with two great looking Jack-o-lanterns and a really nice font on the "Pumpkins." Unfortunately, it's not ideal for handing out to trick-or-treaters. I truly hope there are plans for singles in a big box next year.

Yes, I always make a big deal about awesome packaging, and Cadbury has it with their retail displays and three awesome new foil wrappers (in Canada). The green goo couldn't be more perfect for Halloween. Green automatically implies scary: Aliens, tentacles, and snot! AAAUGH! That, combined with the amazing packaging and store displays earn Cadbury two rotting zombie thumbs up for the best Halloween Candy of 2012.

Halloween Candy Oscars 2011
Halloween Candy Oscars 2009

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11 Comments:

Blogger awildermode said...

I was hoping that it was pumpkin flavoured Snickers.

1:04:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

You know what? I can't even tell if you're joking!

3:15:00 PM

 
Blogger The T-Dude said...

Love the Cadbury eggs, those are awesome!

4:36:00 PM

 
Blogger The T-Dude said...

I saw this list of creepiest, grossest halloween candy and totally thought of you! I think the "Flesh Fries" look awesome.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/grossest-halloween-candies-of-all-time.html?page=all

2:20:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

That was a pretty awesome list! I actually have some of those, or variations of them!

1:47:00 PM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

Yes, Betty Crocker products were at a Halloween Party I attended last night. I was an Airline Pilot and the small fruit snacks were in packages all over the restaurant tables! This is a cool Annual Series, Martini!

8:23:00 PM

 
Anonymous Dan said...

Tried one of the Screme Eggs today. Not bad. Certainly a tiny bit more effort goes into those that a simple change of packaging...

11:23:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

thanks Michael. Hopefully I'll have more to talk about in 2013.

5:33:00 PM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Dan, exactly. Which is a big thumbs-up in my books.

5:33:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All I can say is that the Cadbury looks disgusting which I'm sure is the goal. The fruit snacks look good. Now the Snickers Pumpkin....if that was in dark chocolate they would have nailed it!
I used to like to take the foil wrappers and carefully smooth them out. I don't know why. Mostly at Christmas and Easter.
Great post Martini!

8:47:00 AM

 
Blogger Martini said...

Ohhh yes. Dark chocolate always makes things taste better. Great idea.

5:50:00 PM

 

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