With undoubtedly the strangest name in the candy business, Hershey’s Whatchamacallit is a funny little candy bar. It has a base of peanut butter flavored “crispies” topped by a thin layer of soft caramel, and a coating of rich chocolate encapsulates the whole bar.
The Whatchamacallit and I have a very close relationship, as it was first created only a year before I was born. We practically grew up together. I can’t even remember my first taste of one. Right about the time I learned to ride a bike, the Whatchamacallit was given its tasty layer of caramel. I have a feeling poor Whatchamacallit felt a bit naked before that.
The Whatchamacallit experience is one of light sweetness with its unique blend of four separate flavors and three separate textures. You have the crunchiness of the little crispies, which I personally love. Then you have the rich, smooth chocolate, which everyone loves. Sandwiched 
in between is the caramel. Caramel can be either good or bad. Bad caramel is tough to chew, gets stuck in your teeth, and nearly chokes you before finally going down. But Whatchamacallit contains good caramel. Lightly sweet, so thin and soft that you can enjoy its intermingling with the other flavors without ever noticing any stickiness.
As far as chocolate bars go, Whatchamacallit won’t knock your socks off. None of its flavors are strong and full-bodied like some bars. But there’s just something about that four-flavor combo that keeps me coming back. When I stand at the checkout line and gaze at all the candies awaiting my purchase, I usually say, “Hmm, give me a… Whatchamacallit!”
I haven’t had one of these in years. But with the mention of carmel I’m wondering if Pom Poms are still around…..
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 amI also remember my first Whatchamacallit experience. I had been seeing all the commercials for it on tv, which were a little strange in their own right. I saw it in the store and my mom was gracious enough to buy it for me. I remember sitting in the living room, watching my mom fold laundry and eating the candy bar. Mine had been sitting on the shelf a little too long, I remember the caramel was a little hard. It still had a nice flavor, but the bar got lost in my world of snickers and peanut butter twix… I will just have to track this bar down and give it another try.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:57 amHi, Samantha, thanks for sharing your Whatchamacallit experience. Do give it another try…though I’ll admit that I prefer the old style peanut butter Twix to a Whatchamacallit. Since they changed to the chocolate cookie bar, though…ah, not as good.
Anyway, I must be too young to have noticed the commercials because I don’t remember ever seeing one. What were they like?
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 amThis is the commercial I remember:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOlD-ub63cA
It was such a silly name for a candy bar. I’ve always liked it.
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:30 amFavorite. Candybar. EVER.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:32 pmI now realize why I don’t like them anymore. They added a layer of caramel, you say? I ate Whatchamacallits like crazy when I was a kid but when I tried them again as a teenager I hated them! I couldn’t figure out what had changed but I knew it was something. Thank you for helping me figure that out. I’m not really a caramel fan … at all so that must be why I don’t like them anymore.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:39 pmI agree with Renee – when I was a kid, the bar had no caramel. It’s OK now, but I LOVED them when I was a kid. The caramel added nothing good to the bar.
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:35 pmWow! Candy Addict has had some great reviews lately! You guys have reviewed a lot of my favorites: 100 Grand Dark, Chick-O-Stick, Clark bar, Milky Way Midnight, and now my childhood pick, Whatchamacallit. When I was a kid, my mom used to let me stop at this little gas station after school almost everyday to get a snack. I usually rotated between Funyuns and a Yoo-hoo or a Whatchamacallit and a can of Surge. Ah… Those were the days… ;) Great job Candy Addict staff! Keep it up!
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:09 pmoh, my gosh!,WHACHAMACALLIT is my all time favorite candy bar ever. I first had that when I was about 10 year old and I was hooked. My mom would go into the gas station and we would be looking at her hoping she would as us if we wanted something. I always asked for it, and my sister always got the ZERO, or that hard candy bar that had toffee on it that would hurt your teeth when you bit into if your weren’t careful.
October 28th, 2008 at 5:41 pmThey still sell that at the gas station and I still get it.It beats the Snickers for me by far.
Man, I used to eat them all the time a few years ago, but haven’t been eating candy bars as much as I used to (focusing on M&Ms, Reeses Pieces, Skittles, and Hot Tamales as of late).
All this talk makes me wanna go get one.
And I love them with caramel, btw.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:15 pmHey, thanks for the compliment, Heather! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the reviews. :)
To those who preferred Whatchamacallit pre-caramel…I honestly can’t remember if I ever ate one “plain.” If I did, I was too young to pay much attention. Sugar’s sugar to a four year old, after all. I personally love caramel, so I like it in the Whatchamacallit. Maybe we could petition Hershey’s to offer an original version. They love those nostalgia sales boosters.
I’m glad to have brought back so many happy memories for all you Candy Addicts! That makes my day.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:06 pm