Today’s Halloween-themed spotting is at the home of son Ian and daughter-in-law Katelyn. It’s a 12-foot skeleton that makes even me feel short. Note his smaller companions lounging on the porch. What, that’s not scary enough for you? Then check out the scene at night:
Note how the scene becomes spookier with the addition of unexpected color–in this case, the red and blue light that washes over the whole scene.
The folks at Mars, Inc. seem to understand this principle, and have applied it to the inveterate Snickers bar. Specifically, in an effort to dress up the candy bar for Halloween, they have changed the color of the nougat from light tan to “ghoulish green.” Let’s determine whether this is a trick or a treat.
Conceptual Soundness: Many food purveyors will try to goose sales by giving their product a holiday tweak. Examples include red and green M&Ms, green beer, and eggnog ice cream. Such moves are intended to renew interest in the product and create a sense of ephemeral exlusivity. In this case, Mars has taken a classic candy bar that everyone knows well, and added green food coloring to the nougat. It’s definitely different and does radiate a bit of a Halloween vibe. That’s worth 3 points.
Appearance of the Treat: The most noticeable difference is the green wrapper. And in case you’re colorblind, they print the words “Ghoulish Green” just under the traditional Snickers logo. Now, I’m not sure there’s anything “ghoulish” about green. I assume the word choice had more to do with alliteration.
If you remove the wrapper, the candy bar looks identical to any other Snickers bar you’ve eaten. But bite into it (or cut it in half, as I did) and you see that the nougat is the exact same shade of green as the wrapper.
Now, these are “fun size” bars, which means they’re less than an ounce. You probably will eat it in two bites. So that leaves just those few moments between the first and second bite to admire (or even notice) the green nougat. Still, it’s novel, and the color is truly putrid. As a Halloween gag (if you’ll pardon the pun), it’s worth 3 points.
Taste: These taste exactly the same as any other Snicker’s bar. The “ghoulish green” nougat has no impact on the flavor. Now, in my opinion, the Snickers bar is a delicious candy, with the ideal balance of caramel, nougat, chocolate, and peanuts. But if you’re going to hype a candy as being redesigned for Halloween, shouldn’t you also give it a new taste? Maybe a little mint, which is suggested by the green color? Or substitute pistachios for the peanuts? The people at Mars missed a huge opportunity here. Treats sporting a different look should taste different.
Now, I should probably admit here that, to me, Halloween Oreos, with their orange filling, taste much better than regular Oreos. I realize the package says “same great taste,” and the ingredient list is identical to regular Oreos. But somehow I find the Halloween Oreos to be far tastier than the regular ones. I am open to the possibility that the visual appearance of the Halloween Oreo somehow tricks my brain into thinking I’m tasting something different. But that’s OK. As we know, the placebo effect can cause genuine health improvements in clinical trials. So, as far as I’m concerned, if I think the Halloween Oreos taste better, then they taste better.
Anyway, my point is simply that the “ghoulish green” Snickers do not taste any different than regular Snickers. So I can’t give them any points for taste. Zero points.
Value: The fun-size “ghoulish green” Snickers come in a bag that also includes “ghoulish green” Twix bars. You get 35 bars to a bag, which costs $12 on sale at Safeway. That works out to 35 cents per bar, which really isn’t bad. Let’s give it 3 points.
Total Treat Score: 9/16 points. If you like Snickers, then you should get yourself a bag.
Speaking of bags, our mailbag received the following item which is evocative both of The Birds and Poe:
Chasing Phantoms 
