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Supersized M&Ms and the demise of JBz

rabidscottsman

By rabidscottsman
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Brad Ballinger

Brad Ballinger

Posted
Posted
M&M's launched limited-edition "Ogre-sized" M&M's last year after "Shrek 2" was released, but this time, the mega-sized candies are here to stay as part of the M&M's permanent line.

For an earlier discussion on how wonderful these larger candies are, I've linked the Shrek M&M thread, which also includes photos comparing the standard size to the new larger size.

We cannot employ the mind to advantage when we are filled with excessive food and drink - Cicero

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Rachel Perlow

Rachel Perlow

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Posted

From the Shrek thread...

In addition, I've contacted Mars (the company that makes M&Ms) with a link to this thread and a request to make ogre size the default M&M, but with the regular colors! Hopefully, they'll respond online.

I know, I'm nuts. :wacko:

I may have been nuts, but it seemed they listened to us. Or, at least let's think they listened to us. :wink:

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marlena spieler

marlena spieler

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Just yesterday I tapped out an email that said: why don't m & ms make ones for adults.......

though i was referring to the flavour rather than the size and colour. i love the colours of regular m & ms and i love the size, and i even like the taste of the thin candy shell, but the inner chocolate to me seemed in line for a make over, i wanted more dark chockkie flavour!

anyone know anything about the flavours of the new ones? or is it the classic milky chock taste?

Marlena

Marlena the spieler

www.marlenaspieler.com

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jsolomon

jsolomon

Posted
Posted
The last change M&M made to its permanent line was the addition of Crispy M&Ms in 1998.

You mean the dark chocolate M&M's aren't here to stay?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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twiggles

twiggles

Posted
Posted

You mean the dark chocolate M&M's aren't here to stay?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

i loved those dark chocolate ones!! but i hardly ever found them in the store. have you seen them anywhere? i haven't seen them in months...

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rose_ayn

rose_ayn

Posted
Posted

I loved the dark chocolate ones too, perhaps we'll see them back again. The "adult" M&M's are a variation of the Shrek ones - at least that's what I'm gleaning from this thread. If the dark chocolate ones sold well enough it may be just message enough that we like them and not just the movie they were tied into.

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OwnReward

OwnReward

Posted
Posted
I loved the dark chocolate ones too, perhaps we'll see them back again.  The "adult" M&M's are a variation of the Shrek ones - at least that's what I'm gleaning from this thread.  If the dark chocolate ones sold well enough it may be just message enough that we like them and not just the movie they were tied into.

The dark ones were part of the Return of the Sith/Star Wars III merchandising glut...I have had good luck finding them at party stores like I Party....

KV

All that is needed for evil to survive is for good people to do nothing

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rose_ayn

rose_ayn

Posted
Posted
I loved the dark chocolate ones too, perhaps we'll see them back again.  The "adult" M&M's are a variation of the Shrek ones - at least that's what I'm gleaning from this thread.  If the dark chocolate ones sold well enough it may be just message enough that we like them and not just the movie they were tied into.

The dark ones were part of the Return of the Sith/Star Wars III merchandising glut...I have had good luck finding them at party stores like I Party....

KV

What I meant was since the large M&M's were originally tied to Shrek 2 that perhaps we'd get dark M&M's rolled out not tied to movies in the future.

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bloviatrix

bloviatrix

Posted
Posted
Like everything else in the USA, we're supersizing them....

disgusting

"Mega M&M's are aimed at making mega-Americans," said Bonnie Liebman, director for nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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marlena spieler

marlena spieler

Posted
Posted
Like everything else in the USA, we're supersizing them....

disgusting

"Mega M&M's are aimed at making mega-Americans," said Bonnie Liebman, director for nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest

The thing that is most charming about m & ms, besides the gay colours and the thin candy shell, is the fact that THEY ARE SMALL! Thats the whole point of their goodness, you can just eat a few and feel really satiated. plus they look good in a jar where they can beckon to you and you don't need to eat them all, only a small handful with a cup of tea, and if they are big BIG then one of their great points of charm is gone.

Marlena

Marlena the spieler

www.marlenaspieler.com

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kdl1221

kdl1221

Posted
Posted (edited)

Deleted

Edited by kdl1221
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~K

Thank you as well for the conversational haitus. I generally refrain from speach during gustation. There are those who attempt both at the same time. I find it coarse and vulgar.

Big Dan Teague

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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marlena spieler

marlena spieler

Posted
Posted (edited)

Wow, weird colours, weird sizes!

its made me think, though, how much like like the bright colours (though i prefer them without the blue, i'm a green fan myself, and i kind of liked the tan ones as they were a subtle/go-with-anything colour to set off the bright ones.

the colour thing reminded me of when, doing a parapsychology excercise, we were instructed to see if we could tell the difference in colours of m & ms in our mouths.

AND, i did a version of this in a paper i gave at the oxford symposium of food and drink, in.....2003 i think: subject: eating like a child.

what was the result of trying to feel the colours of the m & ms in our mouths? i forget.

a good excuse for a little *scientific* experimentation today.

Marlena

Edited by marlena spieler (log)

Marlena the spieler

www.marlenaspieler.com

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Genny

Genny

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Well, once again my fellow eGers have influenced my shopping and eating habits... I saw the packages of the new Mega M&Ms and so I had to buy a small package of each, plain and peanut (for scientific purposes).

I've tried only the peanut so far but my experience was this: The size was almost too big for me. I do like the smaller size better I think. The flavor was better though. It may just be psychological but I thought the chocolate tasted richer and of a better quality than the regular M&Ms.

Oh, and the display for these said "For a limited time only" so I wondered if these were really here to stay?

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Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson

Posted
Posted

Bad news, everybody.

But let me preface this bad news by saying, I knew this was going to happen! Back when I first started eating JBz, I thought... man, why aren't these more popular? They're delicious! They are absolutely, hands-down, one million times tastier and more fun to eat than M&Ms. The more I ate them and the more I thought about them, I began to formulate a theory: since M&Ms all taste the same, you can eat more than one at a time without having to worry about the flavors clashing. JBz, on the other hand, are all individually flavored and so you can only eat them one by one, or in carefully calculated combinations.

I suspected that most people want to get a more substantial amount of chocolate in their mouths than a single M&M or JB provides (i.e., they want to eat more than one at a time), and they don't want to worry about mismatching flavors. Hence, the popularity of JBz dwindled, and recently, M&Ms released their so-called "Mega" M&Ms.

And the bad news: JBz has streamlined their menu from the original twenty flavors to a lame, concilliatory twelve. The new flavors, I noticed, are much more compatible with each other than the original batch. Gone are the bolder varieties like sizzling cinnamon, licorice, juicy pear, tutti frutti, apricot, buttered popcorn, and my personal favorite, honey graham cracker. New entries: caramel, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate fudge brownie. Frankly, I am surprised that mint wasn't eliminated, since it's kind of a wild card in a new batch and doesn't quite fit with the other flavors. Overall, however, the new JBz seem to be geared towards faster, less thoughtful consumption.

And the extra bad news: I don't think it's helping JBz sales! JBz used to be available at Target, most grocery stores, drugstores, and even 7-Eleven. Now they're nowhere to be found! Are we in danger of losing one of the most unique candies America has to offer? All because our culture is obsessed with portion size?

I encourage everyone to buy as many JBz as they can before it's too late! AND BOYCOTT MEGA M&Ms!

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Rebecca263

Rebecca263

Posted
Posted

I really wanted to like those JBz, but I just couldn't do it! Maybe you're right about the flavors. I ate a few licorice/chocolate ones and a buttered popcorn and just didn't see the charm in it. Now, graham cracker, caramel, cinnamon and mint? I need to find these again and do another round of tasting. Oh, and those new M & M's? I can't wait to get some. I always eat my candy coated chocolates one at a time, and kiddle and I were thinking about sizing up a few years ago, a big one sounds delish!

More Than Salt

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jamiemaw

jamiemaw

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Posted

Do you folks get Smarties--a product of Nestle Rowntree--down there? They're an English confection similar in dimension to M&Ms but with a thicker candy shell and superior chocolate.

from the thinly veneered desk of:

Jamie Maw

Food Editor

Vancouver magazine

www.vancouvermagazine.com

Foodblog: In the Belly of the Feast - Eating BC

"Profumo profondo della mia carne"

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Rebecca263

Rebecca263

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've had Smarties, I thought they were kind of waxy, even more so than the nice low brow taste of Hershey's and M & M's.

Edited by Rebecca263 (log)

More Than Salt

Visit Our Cape Coop Blog

Cure Cutaneous Lymphoma

Join the DarkSide---------------------------> DarkSide Member #006-03-09-06

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ladyyoung98

ladyyoung98

Posted
Posted

actually we do have a candy down here that we call smarties but i dont think its the same thing you are talking about...they are very popular arouns halloween and can be found everywhere at that time of the year..but once hallloween passes you can find them here and there..just check out any candy isle in your local grocer and you migh tbe lucky to find them..

as for the JBz....i loved them a great deal before i was diagnosed as being diabetic..which just about killed things for me..having to give them up..and then lo and behold i discovered they had sugar free ones ...so i can still have them...boy i sure missed them..... :rolleyes:

a recipe is merely a suggestion

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JSD

JSD

Posted
Posted

I bought a box of JBz 20 flavors at the grocery store today and tried them. I thought they were pretty good. They were more interesting than regular m&ms, and because the light wasn't very good, I didn't know in advance what I was eating. I don't think I got every flavor. The coffee was especially good. I thought the grape flavor was bad, though.

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jhlurie

jhlurie

Posted
Posted

I wonder if the remaining boxes of the old school JBz will go on deep discount in my area warehouse stores.

I bought a box of JBz 20 flavors at the grocery store today and tried them.  I thought they were pretty good.  They were more interesting than regular m&ms, and because the light wasn't very good, I didn't know in advance what I was eating.  I don't think I got every flavor.  The coffee was especially good.  I thought the grape flavor was bad, though.

Yeah, that's the thing. M&Ms really only have one flavor, no matter what the shell color. Really, what's the point? Why aren't they all just brown or something? :wacko: Yes, I know. Marketing.

Jon Lurie, aka "jhlurie"

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