Inside Hershey

I Love Reese's Day

 

How are you celebrating I Love Reese's Day?

That's right, it's today! So I hope you've made plans to sneak enjoy some of that Reese's chocolatey-peanut-butter goodness this evening. A Reese's Dark Chocolate s'more makes an excellent dessert. Just sayin'.

To keep that celebration going, check out these Reese's products to see if you've won some of the $2 million in cash prizes Reese's will give out this year in the Reese's Loves You Back™ promotion:

• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
• Reese's Big Cup Peanut Butter Cups
• Reese's® Pieces® Candies
  
• Reese's Crispy Crunchy Bars

Now you're probably wondering how we're celebrating I Love Reese's Day—well, thanks to The Hershey Company, we're giving away a prize package filled with Reese's love! More specifically, at noon on Friday, May 21, we'll use random.org to help us select a winner, who'll receive a specially selected combination of the five Reese's products involved in the Reese's Loves You Back™ promotion.

Entering is easy—just leave a comment with your favorite Reese's product right here, or on the Inside Hershey Facebook page.

Good luck!

Welcome to March!

Now that Chocolate-Covered February has officially ended in Hershey, you may be wondering what the next Big Promotion will be. And Hershey Entertainment & Resorts has a good one lined up, beginning today: March Sweetness.

If you plan on visiting Hersheypark this season, it's well worth checking the Hersheypark web site this month—the sooner, the better. You'll have the chance to score some deeply discounted Hersheypark tickets, as well as the opportunity to book hotel packages at the best rates of the season. For Hersheypark tickets, the earlier the purchase is made, the greater the savings. A maximum of ten tickets is allowed per transaction. Pricing is as follows:

• March 1 to 7, tickets are $20 off regular admission
• March 8 to 14, tickets are $18 off regular admission
• March 15 to 21, tickets are $16 off regular admission
• March 22 to 31, tickets are $14 off regular admission

One caveat: all discounted tickets must be used by July 1, 2010.

Basketball (or Hershey's bar character) fans also have a chance to predict the winner of Hershey's "March Sweetness" tournament and win a grand prize.

Hersheypark's summer season begins on May 1 this year; the "Springtime in the Park" preview weekend has been expanded to two weekends: April 2,3 and 4, plus April 10 and 11.

Celebrating the Milton Hershey School

The Hershey Company has quietly begun to add a little note to some of its candy bars in recognition of the Milton Hershey School, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this school year. The message appears on Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars and Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar With Almonds in time for Valentine's Day.

Certainly, it's a good public relations move for the company, but it also points out a fact of which few confectionery consumers are aware: the trust that operates the school also holds a controlling interest in The Hershey Company.

The story of the school is remarkable, nearly as remarkable as the story of Mr. Hershey. And it deserves to be shared, even if it's just as a blurb on a candy bar.

Giveaway! Reese's Dark Peanut Butter Cups

 

 

UPDATE: The Reese's Dark Peanut Butter Cup Giveaway is now closed. Watch here for winners, selected randomly (using random.org) from our comments...and watch for more giveaways coming up soon!

Since just before National S'Mores Day, we'd been experimenting with different Hershey products in our S'mores, trying to find just the right ingredient to kick up that campfire favorite a few notches. Honeymaid Grahams were a must—and not the low-fat kind. Homemade vanilla marshmallows would be perfect...but for convenience sake, the traditional Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows were working just fine.

But the chocolate: that's where we focused our energies. The traditional Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar? We wanted something different this time. A Hershey's Symphony Bar? Pretty good...but very (maybe TOO) sweet. How about Mr. Goodbar? The addition of peanuts was nice, but something about the texture didn't work for us. However, the peanut flavor worked well. And that led us to Reese's.

Because our milk chocolate creations were a little too sweet for our liking, we first tried the new Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. And there was no need to try anything else—the dark chocolate gave our S'Mores a richer, less sweet chocolate boost, and the peanut butter flavor and texture was just right. For maximum peanut butter and chocolate flavor, a full-size cup is best, but we tried using Miniatures as well and let's just say they were happily consumed by our "test panel" as well!

Then a miracle occurred. In a strange coincidence (or maybe it was fate), The Hershey Company approached us to see if we'd be interested in sponsoring a giveaway for Reese's Dark Peanut Butter Cups. The Dark Peanut Butter Cups are a new addition to the Reese's line-up; although the company has offered limited edition dark peanut butter confections in the past, the dark chocolate PB cup is apparently ready for prime time and can now be found on the shelves in your local grocery and convenience stores (as well as the bigger box stores, such as Target and Wal-Mart).

If you'd like the chance to win a gift pack of fresh Reese's Dark Peanut Butter Cups, all you need to do is leave a comment here telling us how you eat your Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Do you nibble on the edges? Take off the chocolate top first? Pop the whole thing in your mouth? (don't worry, we won't tell a soul...)

Comment as many times as you wish.* On Wednesday, August 26, we'll close the comments at noon Eastern and pick three winners. Each winner will receive a special package consisting of four 2-packs of the Reese's Dark Cups and two bags of the Reese's Dark Cups Miniatures. That's enough to keep your S'Mores campfire crew content!

*The Hershey Company has asked that we extend this offer only to residents of the United States, and only those U.S. residents over the age of 18. 

Hershey's Gifts Closing on July 31

The Hershey Company has announced that it will close its Hershey's Gifts online store and catalog, effective July 31.

Philly.com has more details on the decision to shutter Hershey's Gifts here. And the Harrisburg Patriot-News reports that 12 jobs will be eliminated as a result of the closing.

The good news? From now until July 31, Hershey's Gifts will offer automatic 25% discounts on all gift items.

**UPDATE** Hershey is back online in time for the holiday season! Hershey's Gifts is now the Hershey Store.

News from The Hershey Company

It's true, I haven't posted much about chocolate lately.

Nothing about the plethora of Easter goodies — the Reester Bunnies, the Bliss eggs, the white chocolate and dark chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs — and nothing about the new Pieces line, and nothing about the new Hershey Meltaway Kisses/Reese's Cremes/Thingamajig bars (see Cybele's Candy Blog for excellent reviews of all the new products) and nothing about The Hershey Company's stalwart earnings in the face of a global recession.

That's all good news, sure. But I've just been a little down about the company closing the iconic Scharffen Berger factory in Berkeley and discontinuing the line of Joseph Schmidt truffles. Call me a chocolate snob, but I was excited about Hershey's Artisan Confections and hoped it had a bright future.

Unfortunately, it looks as though Artisan Confections will be taking another hit. This week, there have been rumblings that Hershey's and Starbucks have decided to dissolve the partnership that produced those stellar Starbucks chocolates. I suppose it's no surprise — the Starbucks line has never been sold at Starbucks locations, and it really hasn't been supported by a lot of advertising. But this was good chocolate. Premium chocolate. REAL chocolate.

And I'll miss it.

I hope the Dagoba line survives.

Hershey's New "Pure" Ad Campaign

If you have thoughts on the new Hershey's "Pure Chocolate" commercials or the Hershey's web site, there's a new way to let The Hershey Company know. Simply go to the site and click on the "Thoughts" link that emerges from the lower left on the main page.

Perhaps this is a prelude to a redesign of the Hershey's site. If so, I hope the company will do a better job of updating new product information and making product ingredients more readily accessible. As for the "Pure Chocolate" campaign, well...at a minimum, the timing isn't good with the media's current focus on Hershey changing many of its product ingredient lists to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oils. And I've always thought Hershey should go back to showing "real people" enjoying its products.

But those are MY opinions. Go take two minutes and share yours!

UPDATE: It's a little less intuitive to find a way to contact The Hershey Company on its site now. Here's the current contact form.

Back to Bliss

One of The Hershey Company's new strategies apparently includes this house party introduction of the new Hershey's Bliss chocolates. If you're interested participating in the Bliss launch by hosting a house party (sounds good to me!), click here and sign up. Don't wait too long, though: the house parties are scheduled for the last week of April, and you'll need your samples to arrive from Hershey...

Bliss Ads Begin

I've finally started seeing ads for Hershey's Bliss (I noticed one during Top Chef on Wednesday), and I'm liking them. Which is good, since Bliss is apparently targeted to my demographic.

According to Adweek:

Two TV spots, aimed at women, say, "Bliss is everywhere. You just have to unwrap it." One spot shows women in simple pursuits such as strolling in a field of sunflowers, swinging on a hammock and a mom and daughter lying on a grassy field. The ad also is rich in product shots of the Hershey's Bliss 9.6-ounce bag and candy pieces. It includes the song "Bliss" by singer/songwriter Alice Peacock.

What I like most about the Bliss ad I saw was the return of real people in Hershey's ads. The ads that stick with me over time are the ads that feature people enjoying the product: Hershey's original "Kissing Kids"; the chance meetings of one person with chocolate and another with peanut butter; the people talking about how they eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup; the "Put a Smile on Your Face" jingle; all those great images of people enjoying "The Great America Chocolate Bar" at the end of the Chocolate World ride -- I loved seeing those happy faces!

But in recent years, it seems as though Hershey's advertising has been heading for product-only ads or celebrity endorsements. Animated Hershey's Kisses, endorsements by Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. Elvis Peanut Butter Cups. Dale Earnhardt Hershey Bars.

So it's nice to see the Bliss ads with "real people" in them. I hope it means a return to those people-centric ads I love. And maybe even a return of some happy faces with Hershey Bars somewhere in Chocolate World...