As our resident sports expert Tori pointed out, football season has begun, which means that pretty soon you will be having friends over for Sunday afternoon parties – chips, dip, cocktail weenies and barbecue sauce (another of Mother Weaver’s specialties) and some great desserts. Need a new snack to add to the table?
Barbara here in our DC Candy Hideaway has an excellent idea. Take a bag of M&Ms and mix it about half-and-half with salted cocktail peanuts. Mix and serve. If you have not tried this, it’s wonderful, simple, fast and does not require cleanup, except for the empty M&Ms bags.
Try making candy cakes like Susan S does or maybe even a football cake, or at least a football-shaped cake. We wouldn’t any footballs harmed in this exercise.
What sweet snacks are you preparing for the big game?
However, something I’m always sure to catch is the candy associated with these summer blockbusters. Usually offered in limited edition, candies tied into summer movies are one of the best parts of summer. For example, Dark Knight featured limited edition bat-shaped dark chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Hello! Thankfully, they were such a hit that you can now walk into any store in the country and find every day dark chocolate Reese’s cups.
The blockbuster hit this summer is Transformers 2. I haven’t seen the movie (no suprise there), but I have tried some of the candy – Strawberry Peanut Butter M&Ms. Each piece is like a miniature pb&j sandwich wrapped up in chocolate. Awesome. Mars was sampling them at the ALL CANDY EXPO this year and they were very popular.
Here’s a little video clip exposing the unique delivery system for the product. I’ll tell you this, if Red and Yellow were in the movie, I’d probably go see it!
The limited edition M&Ms are in stores right now so be sure to sample a package or 20. Let us know what you think.
Big movies expected next summer that seem ripe for candy tie-ins include Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3 and Green Hornet. Can you think of products that should partner up with these candies? What about these other movies expected out in 2010?
CNN had an article yesterday about scientists using a compound called Brilliant Blue G, the same dye used in blue M&Ms and Gatorade to help heal spinal injuries. The scientists injected the dye into lab rats with spinal injuries to gauge their reaction. According to the article, “The rats given BBG immediately after their injury could walk again with a limp. Those that didn’t receive a dose never regained their mobility.” A side effect is that the rats temporarily turned blue. No joke – blue like they were frozen or possibly dyed the color of a blue M&M. Check out the article for a photo.
This doesn’t mean that we can prevent or heal spinal injuries by eating or injecting M&Ms, but it is rather remarkable that M&Ms and Gatorade hit on this magic ingredient, independent of its chemical properties related to this healing effect.
I don’t know where they came from or how they got here but we started out with one M&Ms critter in our old office and it got lonely so we got it a friend and now they are popping up all over the place in our new office. Honestly, I am not sure how to handle this. They are cute and friendly enough but every time you turn around in the office there’s another one. These are anthropomorphized candy characters, for crying out loud, not tribbles. How can this be happening?
What if they just keep multiplying? What if they develop a pack mentality and take over or, even worse, kick us out of our fancy Georgetown office? Okay, so maybe they are just friendly. And maybe, just maybe, they aren’t really alive. If they were, I am sure all would be fine, judging from their TV personalities. Docile, friendly creatures. They might even purr.
But look what I found in the file room. It appears that they are nesting and making more of themselves. This one is still in his coccoon. Could it be? In all seriousness, I keep finding new ones in the office and I seriously do not know where they are coming from, although I strongly suspect our friends at Mars.
Have you ever seen these things around? Where do you even go to buy them?
Barbara, our president’s executive assistant, had these M&Ms toys sitting on her desk last week. I got the impression they must have stowed away with her after the All Candy Expo. Their fate is to be given as gifts, I understand, but so far I think they are still marauding around the office. It’s funny to me how M&Ms/Mars has created a whole story behind these characters and even introduced attraction-based tension into the mix. The red and yellow M&Ms are trying to win the affections of the very seductive and beautiful Ms. Green.
Well, she’s beautiful for anthropomorphized candy, anyway. She also seems to shop like Blondie, loaded down with parcels. No doubt she is calling Dagwood over to help with her packages. This makes me wonder what character they will develop for the sparkly, speckly new M&Ms Premiums. They look fancier, for sure, so perhaps a personified, cartoonish representation isn’t appropriate. On the other hand, the M&Ms Premium characters could be like Mr. and Mrs. Howell, employing the red and yellow ones as the Howells would employ Gilligan and the Skipper.
In front of McCormick Place, where the All Candy Expo took place this week, I was always amused by this giant M&M, which was tethered to sand bags to keep it from blowing away in the windy city. It almost looked like he was being restrained, which was sad, but at the same time, we don’t need giant M&Ms wandering around, as loving and friendly as I am sure they are.
So – what did you do this week that was fun and exciting? Did you sign up for our massive candy giveaway yet?
Something that happens at the ALL CANDY EXPO® is that people have some fun. It’s one of the only times each year when so many industry representatives can get together, exchange ideas and share the common aspects of their professional lives, normally only felt from afar. They might relax a bit, unwind and let their hair down. For instance, look at this picture of Tori and Susan hugging up on the yellow M&M guy. Why is it that he is so lucky? I know he is famous and all, but I just don’t see why he attracted all the attention. What about the normal guys? Aren’t they good enough?
Mind you, this was before Susan got engaged. It was before talk of things like the chocolate wedding cake and bridal shower M&Ms. I guess she was still free to flirt with people dressed up as candy. But Tori? Oh, poor Brian, who has to put up with her flirting with every candy-costumed character who walks by.
This all leads me to wonder if there is a place for a guy dressed as a circus peanut. I searched in vain for a costume like this, but as everyone knows, if it isn’t on eBay, it hasn’t been invented yet. Alas.
As our resident sports expert Tori pointed out, football season has begun, which means that pretty soon you will be having friends over for Sunday afternoon parties – chips, dip, cocktail weenies and barbecue sauce (another of Mother Weaver’s specialties) and some great desserts. Need a new snack to add to the table?
