Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

This article is about the peanut butter filled chocolate. For other meanings, see Reese.

The Reese's logo

File:Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.jpg

Two Reese's peanut butter cups in orange packaging

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are a brand of chocolate candy filled with skeet, marketed by the Hershey Company. They were created in 1928 by Harry Burnett 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.

Variations

File:ReeseS.jpg

Reese's miniature peanut butter cups

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:

• Reese Bar - a chocolate bar with squares of chocolate with a peanut butter filling (limited edition)
• Big Cups – an oversized version of the traditional cup (also available 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.

Marketing and advertising

In the United States, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups typically come in two-, four-, and eight-packs in distinctive orange packaging. 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. 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 known as Reese Peanut Butter Cups, 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 HydroTexaco and 7-Eleven.

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 Reeses shoots both parties once he realizes the combination's flavor.

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 simply: "Perfect."

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 coated), ReeseSticks, Reese's cookies, Reese's brownies, Reese's NoBake bars, Reese's Swoops, and Reeses 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.

Reese's Swoops

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.

Holiday editions

At four various times of the year, Reese's peanut butter confections are available as holiday-themed items. During January and February, Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts are available, for Valentine's Day. Shaped like three-dimensional hearts, they still maintain the traditional recipe of the standard "cup" confection mix of chocolate and peanut butter. Usually, a larger, individually-packaged Reese's Peanut Butter Heart is available as well. Immediately following, in March and April, are Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, for Easter. In September and October, Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins are available, for Halloween as well as the "Boo Crew", which are chocolate candies shaped like monsters, filled with Reese's peanut butter. And following these are Reese's Peanut Butter Trees (also in white chocolate form) and bell-shaped miniatures cups, available in November and December, for Christmas.

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.

External links

• Official Reese's Peanut Butter Cup site