Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
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Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are a brand of chocolate candy filled with peanut butter, marketed by the Hershey Company. They were created in 1928 by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey. The H. B. Reese Candy Co., established in the basement of Reese's house in Hershey, Pennsylvania, merged with the Hershey Company in 1963. Reese started making peanut butter cups around 1928, along with other types of candy.[1]
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[edit] Variations
Miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are sold in bags of 9 ounces (260 g) or more. These chocolates come in a brown paper cup wrapped in gold or colored foil. Hershey's also produces "limited editions" of the candy that have included:[2]
- Reese Bar - a chocolate bar with squares of chocolate with a peanut butter filling (limited edition)
- Big Cups – an over-sized version of the traditional cup (also available in white chocolate, with peanuts, mixed nuts, and with a combination of nuts and caramel)
- Peanut Butter Lovers – a layered cup with top peanut butter layer, thin chocolate layer and peanut butter filling
- Chocolate Lovers – a thicker chocolate cup with a thinner layer of peanut butter
- White Chocolate – peanut butter filling in a white chocolate cup
- Inside Out – chocolate filling in a peanut butter cup (a reversal of the traditional version)
- Caramel – the traditional cup with an added layer of caramel filling
- Marshmallow – the traditional cup with an added layer of marshmallow filling
- Peanut Butter & Banana Creme – a layered cup with a top chocolate layer, bottom banana creme layer, and peanut butter filling; released in summer 2007 in tribute to Elvis Presley. It was available in standard, Big Cups and Miniatures sizes
- Crunchy Cookie Cup – a layered cup with crushed chocolate cookies and peanut butter filling (discontinued in 1999)
- Honey Roasted - a traditional cup substituting honey roasted peanut butter
- Dark Chocolate - peanut butter filling in a dark chocolate cup
- Hazelnut Cream - Hazelnut Cream replacing the standard peanut butter filling
Also available are Sugar Free Reese's Peanut Butter Cup miniatures.
[edit] Marketing and advertising
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In the United States, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups typically come in two-, four-, and eight-packs in distinctive orange packaging, set on thin but rigid paperboard trays. The "Classic" two-pack is a .75 oz. cup, the "King Size" four-pack is a .70 oz. cup and the "Lunch" eight-pack is a .55 oz. cup. "Large Size" packs of three .70 oz. cups are also available. The "mini" cups come in various bag sizes and foil colors around seasonal themes like red, gold and green for the Christmas holiday season. In Canada, where they are packaged as Reese Peanut Butter Cups, but still widely referred to by their American name, they come in a standard pack of three cups or the king-size variation with four cups. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, they were originally available only in two-packs, though are now only available in three-packs, imported from Canada. In 2007 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were made available in Denmark by Hydro Texaco and 7-Eleven. Some small shops located in Sydney, Australia have stocked Reese's Chocolate bars.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a series of commercials was run for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups featuring situations in which two people, one eating peanut butter and one eating chocolate, collided. One person would say, "you got peanut butter in my chocolate" and the other would reply, "you got chocolate in my peanut butter." They would then sample the mixture and remark on the great taste, tying in with the slogan "two great tastes that taste great together." These commercials were widely satirized by various comedians and in various cartoons. This was parodied in an episode of the animated television series Family Guy, in which an Officer Reese's shoots both parties once he realizes the combination's flavor.[3] Another reference was made in the children's book "Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People", in the comic book made by the alternate George and Harold, when Captain Blunder-pants is chased onto a highway with a box of extra cheesy pizza, he gets in the way of 2 trucks, one carrying "Rich Milk Chocolate", the other stating "Creamy Peanut Butter". The trucks crash (the driver's fates are untold), and because of the combo of cheese, chocolate and peanut butter, the accident gives Captain Blunder-pants super powers similar to how Captain Underpants gets his powers from the alien-origin Super Power Juice.
In the 1990s, the product's slogan was: "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's."
The current slogan, introduced in the mid-2000s, is: "Perfect."
Reese's is also a part-time sponsor for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick.
[edit] Other products
Other candy products of the Reese's division of Hershey include: Reese's Pieces, Reese's Pieces with Nuts, Reese's Fast Break, Reese's NutRageous, Reese's Peanut butter bars (with either chocolate or fudge coating), ReeseSticks, Reese's cookies, Reese's brownies, Reese's No Bake bars, Reese's Swoops, and Reese's Crispy Crunchy Bar, a chocolate bar with 5th Avenue crisp and Reese's peanut butter. Also available are Reese's Select Cluster, Reese's Peanut Butter Bites, the Sweet 'n' Salty Bar, 100 Calorie Peanut Butter Wafer Bars, Reese's Snack Barz, and the Oh Henry! bar with Reese's Peanut Butter.
In September 2007 Hershey's began producing a new Reese's bar called Reese's Whipps. Featuring peanut butter-flavored nougat with a chocolate coating, it has been likened to a peanut butter-flavored 3 Musketeers bar.
Hershey also produces several "pantry" items under the Reese's brand, such as Reese's peanut butter chips (analogous to chocolate chips for baking), Reese's premier baking pieces (tiny cup-shaped pieces of chocolate filled with peanut-butter, also for baking), Reese's jarred peanut butter (though without the chocolate, it tastes largely similar to regular peanut butter), and Reese's toppings (including peanut butter syrup, peanut butter and chocolate topping, and Reese's Magic Shell) and sprinkles for ice cream.
For the July 2008 release of The Dark Knight, Reese's released two limited time products: blue and black Reese's Pieces with Batman's likeness on the packaging and Reese's cups shaped like the Batman logo.
The fact that Reese Sticks digressed from the normal Reese's naming pattern was pointed out by Paul Lukas in his zine Beer Frame.[4] As Lukas noted, even though the official name was Reese Sticks, most people he casually surveyed pronounced it unknowingly as 'Reese's Sticks'. In 2009, Hershey's changed the name officially to Reese's Sticks.
[edit] Holiday editions
During the seasons when retailers offer holiday candies, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are offered in unique holiday-related shapes. These various shapes still offer the standard confection theme of the traditional Reese's cup (peanut butter contained in a chocolate shell). They are sold in a 6-pack packaging configuration, but are usually available as individual items as well. Exterior packaging is altered to reflect the theme of the representative holiday.
Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts - Available mainly during January and February, these are heart-shaped confections representing Valentine's Day. At various retailers, an individually-packaged, larger heart is available as well. These are packaged in a red and white exterior packaging theme.
Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs - Available mainly during March and April, these are egg-shaped confections representing the Christian holiday Easter. These may be available in three different chocolate flavorings: traditional milk, white, and a darker fudge flavoring. Exterior packaging is usually yellow and orange (milk), white and orange (white), or dark brown and orange (fudge). An Easter Bunny Reese's peanut butter item is available as well.
Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins - Available mainly during September and October, these are pumpkin-shaped confections representing Halloween. The packaging is purple and orange.
Reese's Peanut Butter Trees - Available mainly during November and December, these are evergreen tree-shaped confections representing the Christian holiday Christmas. At various retailers, these may be available in standard milk chocolate or white. The packaging was green, white, and orange, but has been changed to the traditional orange packaging with an evergreen tree on the cover.
[edit] Licensed foodstuffs
Hershey licenses the Reese's brand (name, logo, etc.) to various companies for the production of other products beyond the traditional realm of candy. For example, General Mills produces Reese's Puffs, a brand of peanut butter and chocolate flavored breakfast cereal. Several companies, including Breyers, Baskin-Robbins, and Friendly's, produce various licensed Reese's ice cream products.
[edit] References
- ^ Hershey Community Archives
- ^ "Reese's product listing". http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/reesespeanutbuttercups.asp.
- ^ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
- ^ [1] To access Lukas' article, one must click on this link, go to Archives, and then scroll down to the Reese Sticks article.
