The Real Deal

Are you guys up to date on the latest big feud?

No, not between him and him. Or her and them. Or those people against those people.

We’re of course talking about the dust-up between Hershey and Brad Reese, grandson of H.B. Reese, inventor of, you guessed it, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

This was brought to our attention by our close, personal friend John Gruber, who posted some good tidbits on Daring Fireball. But our favorite part was this: in a lengthy LinkedIn post, Reese calls Hershey to task for replacing “Milk Chocolate with compound coatings and Peanut Butter with peanut‑butter‑style crèmes across multiple Reese’s products,” before issuing the following brutal question:

How does The Hershey Company continue to position REESE’S as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built REESE’S trust in the first place?

Then, he goes in for the knockout blow with a simple, two-sentence paragraph:

This isn’t a supply chain question. It’s a brand governance question.

OH SHIT!

There hasn’t been this much violence in the peanut butter industry since Heinrich Smuckers ascended the stage and slapped Jay Skippy across the face at the 94th Annual Nut Butter Awards Gala.

Of course, a heavy hitter like Hershey isn’t just going to sit back and take something like that. They’re going to release a statement that reasserts their dominance and promises, in no uncertain terms, that they would never take their customers for granted by changing the formula just for their bottom line.

Right?

From an AP article on the subject:

“As we’ve grown and expanded the Reese’s product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reese’s fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese’s unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter,” the company said.

Hmm…

So basically: “Everything is the same as it always has been, except for the various changes we’ve made along the way, which are nothing you should worry about.”

This kind of reminds me of when @troy messaged me last week to say, “Thursday’s write-up is a mess. Have you been day-drinking again?” And I, with extreme cleverness, responded, “Certainly various liquids have entered my system in the recent past. Am I only to consume solids while carrying out my assigned work?”

Checkmate, @troy!

But, anyway, here’s the thing: we’re not selling Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups today. Or, we should say, we’re not selling Reese’s peanut-butter-crème-filled “chocolate candy” discs. We’re selling Theo Organic Peanut Butter Cups.

And the top two ingredients in these? Milk chocolate and peanut butter. (Or, you know, dark chocolate and peanut butter for the dark chocolate ones.)

Your honor, we rest our case.

Now please, buy some peanut butter cups.