When I was a little brat growing up in the 1960s, the Easter Bunny (aka my mom) would always leave me an Easter basket filled with candy. I remember one year the basket contained (among other things) a marshmallow chick. As I recall, it was a reasonably detailed depiction, in bright yellow, with a distinct head and body, poised on little toothpick legs. I marveled at it…and then I bit its head off.
A few years later I discovered Peeps, which are extruded marshmallows roughly approximating the shape of a chick. They have no legs, no distinct segments. In fact, a package of five are technically just one big marshmallow, shaped in such a way to suggest five separate chicks that can be separated at the narrow isthmuses that connect them. They do not come close to the magical creature that Mom put in my Easter basket.
Peeps, I’ve learned, have been around since the 1950s…and the guy who created the “modern” Peep in 1954 just died, at age 98, last year. Today, the Peeps line has expanded to include bunnies, Christmas trees, and now skulls for Halloween.
OK, I’m game. Let’s review the little squishy brainpans see how they, uh, pan out.
Conceptual Soundness. Like cotton candy, marshmallows are a pretty simple candy without a lot of visual appeal. But Bob Born had the vision to mold them into festive shapes and festoon them with color and decorations. It’s a pretty good concept. 3 points.
Appearance of the Treat: The skulls are sold six to a box. The color palette employed on the box is an odd choice for a Halloween-themed confection. The bright green package with yellow and white accents has a springtime, Easter vibe. Perhaps the good folks at Peeps are just so rooted in their chicks origins that they can’t escape Easter pastels. But I think it creates an uncomfortable dissonance with the skull-shaped marshmallows.
But wait! These skulls are festively decorated in a distinct Dia de los Muertos pattern. In fact, they look like calaveras de azúcar–the sugar skulls that are inextricably associated with the Mexican holiday. Check it out:
It gets me wondering if these are not so much intended for Halloween, but rather are meant as a nod to the Day of the Dead. Even though Dia de Los Muertos is sometimes referred to by philistines as “Mexican Halloween,” the two holidays are not interchangeable. Me, I’d prefer something a little spookier than a brightly-colored skull that resembles Joel Grey from Cabaret. Still, the Peeps design is colorful and well-executed. Let’s give it 3 points.
Taste: Basically, it’s just a marshmallow. But the outside has been sprinkled with fine sugar, which delivers a gritty though not unpleasant sensation. More importantly, the outer “skin” of the marshmallow is somewhat firmer than the gooey center, resisting your bite for a millisecond before yielding with a satisfying snap. It makes for a great mouthfeel. On the other hand, the taste itself is pretty uninteresting–just that saccharine, cloying sweetness you associate with classic marshmallows. Let’s give it 2.5 points.
Value: A box of these will cost you $1 at Rite Aid. That works out to 17 cents per skull. What else could deliver so much visual and gustatory entertainment at that price? 4 points.
Total Treat Score: 12.5/16 points. This is much better than I thought they’d score. What’s more, they each have no fat and only 47 calories, so they’re practically a health food!
Do yourself a favor and eat a box of them today.
Chasing Phantoms 