Reese’s Pieces, For You, For Me, and For E.T.

Sharability: 5 Denture Danger: 4 Convenience: 5 Novelty: 8 I would take a Reese’s Pieces over an M&M any day, the way the peanut-flavored penuche filling melts in my mouth is just unbeatable and I’m not the only one who thinks so. The extra terrestrial, E.T. (from the movie that you all should have watched at least once by now) has a favorite candy, and that my friends is Reese’s pieces. The funny thing is that Mars actually declined Steven Spielberg’s offer to use M&M’s in the movie and instead Hershey’s got the lucky break. After E.T. was released in 1982, Reese’s Pieces sales increased by 65%. Universal Studios did not allow Hershey’s to see the script, which was a risk that paid off in the end. The original plan for these candies was to fill the shells with peanut butter, but this failed because the oil leaked into the shell taking away the defining crunch and replacing it with a soft shell. The development was put in the hands of a team of scientists to determine what to put in the shell and what thickness to make the shell. The result was a peanut-flavored penuche filling. Penuche is made with butter, brown sugar, and milk and is similar to fudge. In 1978 the orange, yellow, and brown, Reese’s Pieces hit the shelves of candy stores ready to stand as a strong competition to Mars’ M&Ms.