How Hollywood Saved Reese's Pieces
The candy almost disappeared from shelves 40 years ago
I took my kids to the movie theatre last weekend.
Guess what we saw…
Yes, the red sweatshirts they’re wearing are a clue!
E.T.
It’s hard to believe that 40 years ago the story of a boy and an extra-terrestrial first made it to the big screen.
In terms of films from my childhood, E.T. is up there with The Goonies and Return of the Jedi – as in, essential films that I will love and cherish forever.
But aside from loveable aliens and and hooded red sweatshirts, there is one other thing I associate with E.T. —
Reese’s Pieces.
Reese’s Pieces play a key role in the film, as our young hero Elliot leaves a trail of the candy outside that E.T. finds and returns to him.
The popularity of E.T. had kids everywhere suddenly wanting to eat Reese’s Pieces.
But Reese’s Pieces weren’t that popular back then, so how did they end up being the candy associated with E.T.?
I was curious…
This story begins in 1954, when US candy company Hershey introduced a new chocolate product to the market – Hershey-Ets.
Hershey-Ets were small football-shaped pieces of chocolate surrounded by a thin candy shell.
The football shape helped distinguish Hershey-Ets from its main competitor (M&M’s), but problems with the shell forced Hershey to change the shape to a round lentil, similar to M&M’s, in 1960.
But Hershey-Ets were no match for M&M’s - and Hershey removed them from the standard product line in the mid-1970s.
But Hershey-Ets weren’t a total disaster.
Through the process of creating Hershey-Ets, the team at Hershey had acquired special equipment and expertise in candy coating.
So they decided to try another experiment – and set out to create a product similar to the Hershey-Ets, but with a peanut butter center.
But creating a new candy proved difficult.
Experiment after experiment failed as they tried to perfect the peanut butter center.
They eventually brought in scientists who developed ‘penuche’ – a peanut butter-flavoured sugar filling with the consistency of chocolate.
They struggled to get a smooth consistency for the penuche, and then had to conduct experiments to find the ideal thickness of the outside candy shell.
They wanted to capitalize on their popular Reese’s brand, and manufacture the candy in the Reese’s colors of orange and brown, but struggled to get the right hue of orange.
But they persisted – and in 1979 introduced their new product – Reese’s Pieces – to four test markets.
Sales started off well, and Hershey chose to launch Reese’s Pieces nationally in 1980.
But Reese’s Pieces weren’t performing as well as they hoped, and Hershey needed to find a way to market the product.
Then Hollywood came calling.
Universal Studios wanted to use Reese’s Pieces in their new film about “a space creature who befriends a little boy.”
The film’s producers explained that the creature would be lured into the little boy’s house by a trail of Reese’s Pieces.
Although Hershey had never done anything like this before, executive Jack Dowd agreed to back up the movie – called E.T. – with $1 million worth of promotions.
In return, Hershey would be able to use E.T. for its own advertising.
Without a script or idea of what the creature would look like, Dowd returned to Hershey to tell the staff about the deal.
Earl Spangler, then-President of Hershey was skeptical.
His concerns were not abated a few weeks later when Universal sent a picture of E.T. to use on the promotional materials.
“That’s the ugliest creature I have ever seen,” Spangler told Dowd.
But the deal was done, and Dowd and the team at Hershey carried on.
They had posters and stickers printed proclaiming Reese’s Pieces as “E.T.'s favorite candy” and made sure there was enough product in the pipeline for the demand they hoped the film would generate.
E.T. was released in June 1982, and it was a smash hit.
It became the highest grossing film of the year — and of all time (a record it held until Jurassic Park was released 11 years later).
Sales of Reese’s Pieces took off, too, tripling within two weeks of the film’s release.
“It was the biggest marketing coup in history,” Dowd recalled.
“We got immediate recognition for our product, the kind of recognition we would normally have to pay 15 or 20 million bucks for.
“It ended up as a cheap ride.”
FUN FACT: Interestingly, Reese’s Pieces were the second choice candy for E.T.
The filmmakers first approached Mars about using M&M’s in the film.
But Mars passed.
On behalf of Reese’s Pieces fans everywhere, Thank you, Mars!
BONUS: If you’re feeling nostalgic for E.T., here’s a recent piece from The Washington Post celebrating the film’s 40th anniversary.
And here’s the trailer from the 20th Anniversary release:
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Stay Curious!
-Beth
Where can I get me some Reese’s Pieces at 6am in London?! I had TOTALLY FORGOTTEN about their existence but now I MUST HAVE SOME! You should be getting a commission from Hershey’s…..