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VOICE OVER: Patrick Mealey
#10: Space Dust/Cosmic Candy
Introduced back in 1976, Pop Rocks are known for their “fizzing” effect inside of the mouth. Naturally, a knockoff version was released shortly after it came to market. Called Space Dust, it came in powdered form rather than Pop Rocks’ more crystallized version. It was also sold in some eye-popping psychedelic packages that bordered on the nightmarish. However, parents were concerned that Space Dust was too similar in name and texture to Angel Dust, which is the street name for PCP. General Foods changed the name to Cosmic Candy in an attempt to disassociate itself from the harmful drug, but the damage was done. Nasty rumors circulated, sales plummeted, and General Foods was eventually forced to pull it from shelves.
#9: Slo Poke Caramel Pop
Candy was of a completely different variety back in the day. Introduced in 1926, the Slo Poke Caramel Pop was exactly what it sounds like - a slab of hard caramel on a stick. These suckers (no pun intended) lasted forever, so you definitely got your money’s worth. Then again, we can imagine that sucking on the same piece of caramel for hours on end would get pretty boring. Tastes changed over time, and kids of later generations didn’t find much enjoyment with an old-fashioned brick of caramel when more modern and exciting options existed. The original lollipop version has long been discontinued, but you can still find the Slo Poke brand in bulk candy and bar form.
#8: Sugar-Free Haribo Gummy Bears
German company Haribo released the world’s first gummy bear in 1960, and it has since become one of the most widespread and popular candies in the world. Wishing to be a little more health conscious, Haribo released a sugar-free version of their famous gummy bear - and a not-so-metaphorical flood of consequences. You see, Haribo pumped the candy with a sugar alcohol called maltitol. Unfortunately, sugar alcohols are well known for wreaking havoc on the human digestive tract, resulting in all sorts of nasty and unpleasant side effects. The infamous Amazon reviews will give you all the graphic details. Perhaps fearing the bad press, Haribo discontinued the cleanser. Sorry, the candy.
#7: Jolly Rancher Fire Stix
Jolly Rancher is one of the leading names in hard candy, although the company has branched out to include the likes of jelly beans and gummies. The original Jolly Ranchers came in just three flavors - apple, watermelon, and something called Fire Stix. This was essentially a stick of cinnamon taffy, and it was quite popular throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s when the Jolly Rancher brand was expanding in the American west. However, Fire Stix was eventually left behind as the company blew up and introduced more popular flavors like lemon, cherry, and grape. You can still find the “Cinnamon Fire” flavor today, but the Stix iteration has long been discontinued.
#6: Mr. T Gold Chain Bubble Gum
Mr. T was an enormously popular celebrity in the 1980s, known for acting in “The A-Team” and “Rocky III.” He also had a very distinctive look, which included a large amount of expensive gold jewelry. Naturally, candy companies hoped to profit off the actor’s name and iconic appearance, resulting in Amurol’s Mr. T Gold Chain Bubble Gum. As you can probably guess, this was a gold-colored chain of gum that could actually wrap around your neck. The product was released at the height of Mr. T mania in 1985. But celebrities come and go, and Mr. T’s extraordinary popularity did not last long. Neither did his gum.
#5: Hershey’s Swoops
Even the heavyweights stumble every now and then. The Hershey Company is arguably the biggest name in the candy business, with nearly $9 billion in revenue in 2021. Yet their Swoops were a complete swing and a miss. These were essentially little chocolate potato chips that came in a variety of flavors, including basic milk chocolate, Reese’s peanut butter, and York Peppermint Pattie. But Hershey failed to market the chocolate chips correctly, and according to one market study, only a small minority of Hershey’s customers even knew that they existed. Not surprisingly, Swoops was discontinued just three years after they debuted.
#4: Bonkers
Introduced in the mid-'80s, Bonkers was a Nabisco fruit chew consisting of a tangy filling surrounded by a gummy coating. They came in all the popular flavors, including apple, lemon, and strawberry, and even a few interesting ones that took advantage of the coating-filling dynamic, like vanilla peach and peach apricot. Perhaps even more famous than the candy itself were its commercials. Featuring high energy, giant pieces of falling fruit, and lots of silly giggling, the commercials were a huge hit and a genius piece of marketing. In fact, they were pretty much the only thing keeping Bonkers afloat. Once they stopped, the candy faded into obscurity and was eventually pulled from distribution.
#3: Bubble Beepers
Now a mostly-forgotten and antiquated piece of technology, beepers were all the rage in the 1990s. While most kids didn’t own real beepers, they still wanted to appear hip. Enter Bubble Beepers. These were individual sticks of bubble gum that came in a brightly-lit neon package resembling an electronic beeper. The candy earned a small amount of controversy. According to one DEA agent interviewed for the Philadelphia Daily News, people wearing these fake beepers could be mistaken for drug dealers, as beepers are widely used in street distribution. Maybe that particular association killed the Bubble Beeper, or maybe it was just the natural decline in the device’s popularity. Either way, the Bubble Beeper eventually went the way of the real thing.
#2: Life Savers Holes
We know what you’re thinking - don’t regular Life Savers have holes? Well, yes, but this is its own product! Life Savers are an incredibly popular hard candy that has been around since 1912. In the early ‘90s, Life Savers introduced Holes, which is essentially a candy version of donut holes. Being little circular balls, the concept is that these mini candies were the by-product of the holes made in regular Life Savers. Unfortunately, it was marred with the problems from the start, as its plastic packaging caused some children to choke. The candy was recalled and its packaging re-designed, but the confection’s life was not saved. The relaunch didn’t meet with much success, and Life Savers Holes flatlined for good.
#1: Butterfinger BB’s
Known for its association with Shirley Temple and “The Simpsons,” Butterfinger is one of the most popular chocolate bars in the world, and it has been since its introduction in 1923. Nearly seventy years later, in 1992, Butterfinger introduced BB’s. These were small, bite-sized chocolate balls similar to Whoppers. Only, you know, they tasted like Butterfingers. The BB’s brand flourished for over a decade before getting discontinued in 2006. And they are clearly missed. The website Mashed conducted a study in 2021 and found that Butterfinger BB’s were the most missed snack of the ‘90s. While you can still find the “Mini” and “Fun Size” iterations, the BB’s themselves have slipped through our collective hands like butter.
