After my successful venture from traditional candy canes to Bob’s Blueberry Candy Canes, I felt less skeptical about seeking out another flavor. Though I normally don’t go for watermelon, I found these pink candy canes with green stripes aesthetically inviting enough for me to purchase Bob’s Watermelon Candy Canes from my local H.E.B.

Like its blueberry counterpart, the watermelon variety is the same size as a standard candy cane. Unwrapping it, I smell a scent reminiscent of strawberry jam, which is an odd thing considering watermelon and strawberries aren’t really that similar aside from them both being red….

Despite the smell, the taste is indicative of artificial watermelon. There are many varieties of watermelon-flavored candies out there, so as I sucked on the end of the candy cane, I tried to find a good comparison to better illustrate its taste.

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Photo by Anthemic Tangle
One of the best things about Halloween for me is the post-Halloween candy sale. I get to try out all sorts of fun stuff while extending the Halloween spirit for as long as the candy lasts.

Being a Jolly Rancher fan, I immediately gravitated to the Jolly Rancher Creepy Pops. Plus, I love lollipops so I couldn’t wait to try these.

Photo by Anthemic Tangle

The bag has four flavors: wacky watermelon, spooky blue raspberry, ghastly grape, and eerie apple. Each pop is individually wrapped but you can tell what flavor you’ll be getting because you can see the color through the wrapper.

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Remember those plastic wrist bands that everyone was wearing a year or two ago? First available in yellow and bearing the inspirational message “Livestrong,” they were sold by the Lance Armstrong Foundation to raise money for cancer research. The campaign was so successful that other organizations also began to sell bracelets in various colors – pink for breast cancer, green for kidney donation, and so forth.

Even satirical newscaster Stephen Colbert got in on the action – after breaking his wrist, Colbert attempted to convince celebrities and fellow newscasters to wear “Wriststrong” bracelets in support of awareness against “wrist-related violence.” (The proceeds were actually donated to a fund that aids in the rehabilitation of injured American soldiers.)

Perhaps due to the wide availability of flea-market and dollar-store knockoffs, the bracelet fad has faded. However, the candy industry, usually pretty fad-conscious, has only now given us these: Boo Bands edible gummy bracelets. The individually-wrapped bracelets come in blue, red, orange, and purple, and bear the inspirational messages of “SPOOKY,” “TRICK,” “TREAT,” and, of course, “BOO!” (Oh well… who wants to be preached at by Halloween candy anyway?)

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I can be a vulture when it comes to candy. I have a predetermined list of stores I scout out weekly and gaze upon their candy sections. Supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, etc…. I usually do this to see if there happens to be a sale on candy, or even if I know there is a new product debuting that I should keep an eye out for. You can imagine my surprise whenever I discover a new candy product that I wasn’t expecting.

Yes, this is a rarity, but it happened this past week at a Walgreens. As if it was supposed to be stocked with all the other theater-sized box candy, a new version of Mike and Ike stood among its cousins of Tangy Twister and Jolly Joes: Italian Ice. I knew to expect the release of Lemonade Blends a few months back, but nowhere had I heard about Italian Ice debuting. In fact, it isn’t even listed on their website.

Quickly, I purchased the box along with a box of the new and original Tropical Typhoon, which boasted an assortment of new flavors, as advertised on its box.

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Here in Canada, something strange has been happening to the packages of Sour Patch Kids, Fuzzy Peaches, and an array of other familiar gummies. They’ve gotten package updates that prominently feature the name Maynards – a very minor branch of Trebor Bassett known only for making Wine Gums, hardly the most popular of candies.

Fortunately for gummy lovers, this rather baffling marketing decision has also led the way for a number of new Maynards gummy products, including Juicy Squirts, fruit-flavored gummies with a juicy center. They sound like a good idea in theory, but in the past, I’ve found them somewhat lacking in the execution.

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