"End the scourge"
October 31, 2017 1:29 PM   Subscribe

A couple of Halloweens ago, Tristin Hopper, a columnist for the National Post, recorded a video condemning Kerr's Molasses Kisses, a Halloween candy that is fairly ubiquitous - and controversial - in Canada. This year, just in time for Halloween, the Post republished the video alongside a column by Hopper, entitled "End the scourge: This Halloween, only the righteous can stop the Kerr’s Molasses Kiss." A war of words has ensued between Hopper and Kerr's Candy, which has refused to take the criticism of their confection lying down, taking to social media to defend their product. It may be an uphill battle. In 2016, the CBC surveyed viewers on Halloween candy, with the molasses kiss ranking dead last.
posted by mandolin conspiracy (64 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
only the righteous

I will be your champion, Canada. I volunteer as tribute. Feed them all to me, because I find such things to be delicious as hell.
posted by halation at 1:34 PM on October 31, 2017 [5 favorites]


Let me reassure open-minded Americans that they're not good, just generically sticky and sweet. Like a Tootsie Roll but worse. I hate to hate on a domestic product, but yeah, no one wants these.
posted by GuyZero at 1:35 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I actually kinda like them. I don't seek them out, but if they're there...
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:36 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Someone mentioned these in the recent candy corn thread, and I've been craving them ever since. I mean this sincerely, Canada. I mean every word. I'm actively scheming to get someone up there to mail me some.
posted by halation at 1:37 PM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


Okay, first off I never knew those things had a name. (CANADIANS - READ THE FIRST LINK. You've probably carried a cumulative 20 Kg. of those things around before hitting puberty, and never knew they had a name, were made by a company proud of their product.) I've never really thought about them, outside of the detritus that accumulates in the bottom of your sack.

And then again as a parent who throws out half a salad bowl of uneaten Halloween candy in the beginning of December because it's taking valuable pantry space. 3.3

And I don't even hate them. They do harden into rocks by the end of the first week in November though.
posted by Keith Talent at 1:39 PM on October 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


Q: Your company has been around since 1895?

Yes and we've been making the Kisses for 75 years


FunFact: All Kerr's Kisses date from this time, and are 75 years old. Setting Kerr's Kisses aside and regifting them as your house's own Hallowe'en filler candy is a fine Canadian tradition.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:41 PM on October 31, 2017 [19 favorites]


They are not as bad as those horrible Halloween peanut toffee things, but not as good as Tootsie Rolls, so yeah, bottom of the barrel Halloween candy.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:42 PM on October 31, 2017


Our household filler candy is Rockets. They last forever, so you can carry them over to the next year. Also, I like Rockets.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:44 PM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I mean every word.

I live near a Bulk Barn. They sell them by weight. And they'll be on sale tomorrow.

Memail me your mailing details if you want.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:45 PM on October 31, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'd like to try these. But then I also like Peanut Butter Kisses.
posted by asperity at 1:45 PM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love Halloween molasses candy. And as a kid that was an awesome position to be in because none of the friends who I traded Halloween candy with liked them much. So I could trade, oh say a single mini chocolate bar (of a kind I didn't really like anyway) and get ALL of their molasses candy. At the end of the night I would have a mountain of the stuff.

Now I'm the one handing out the candy, and I stick with mini chocolate bars and caramels for the kids. But yesterday I went to Bulk Barn to buy a little bag of molasses candy just for me.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 1:47 PM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


horrible Halloween peanut toffee things

NO THEY ARE THE BEST I LOVE THEM

Peanut Butter Kisses

YES THESE ARE THE SECOND-BEST, I ALSO LOVE THEM

I live near a Bulk Barn. They sell them by weight. And they'll be on sale tomorrow.

That's such a sweet gesture! Thank you for the kind offer! I have family and friends in Canada, though, so now that I know they exist I am working my contacts. I suspect I'm going to get a literal box full of these things when I visit at Christmas.
posted by halation at 1:48 PM on October 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


They should be very al dente by Christmas.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:49 PM on October 31, 2017 [7 favorites]


They should be very al dente by Christmas.

perrrrrfect, stale taffy is best taffy (again I mean this, I mean it sincerely)
posted by halation at 1:52 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I didn't taste candy corn until adulthood, but these......oh I remember these.

Scourge indeed.
posted by quaking fajita at 1:52 PM on October 31, 2017


The product page sure sounds unappealing. "Made with 10% real molasses". Also "No high fructose corn syrup", but then the #1 ingredient is "Corn syrup". I guess it's 50% fructose, not 55%? Woo!

It's called "Molasses Kisses" but it's really "Kisses: 1/10th molasses, 9/10th refined sugars."
posted by Nelson at 1:59 PM on October 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


They should be very al dente by Christmas.

('Al dente' in this context means you will require dental care.)
posted by Capt. Renault at 2:00 PM on October 31, 2017 [18 favorites]


I would eat these but they'd always be the last things I ate. I am not sure who is buying these to hand out. People who don't like Halloween and are passive aggressive about it I guess.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:03 PM on October 31, 2017


I mean every word.Memail me your mailing details if you want.

Do you lace Halloween candy with drugs like we supposedly do in the USA? Cuz if you do, I'm all in.
posted by orange ball at 2:04 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I've never tried these, but my that label is damn cute...kinda like my favorite halloween candy...horrible Halloween peanut toffee things...wait, you better not be talking about Mary-Janes, because them's fightin' words. As in, I will fight your children, push them down, take their candy, pick out all the Mary-Janes, then give them the rest of their candy back, help them up, apologize for pushing them, and then run away stuffing my face with Mary-Janes.
posted by sexyrobot at 2:08 PM on October 31, 2017 [4 favorites]


Huh those have a name? I like them and am now craving them
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 2:09 PM on October 31, 2017


I like them (and also never knew that had a name). Not as much as say, fun size Kit Kats, but they are the halloweenmost candy and they're decent enough. Candy corn now, WTH is up with that? Even as a child I wasn't completely convinced they were meant to be eaten.
posted by rodlymight at 2:12 PM on October 31, 2017


('Al dente' in this context means you will require dental care.)

That’s the brilliant part. If you need a filling removed, these will do the job gratis.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:21 PM on October 31, 2017 [6 favorites]


"I didn't taste candy corn until adulthood...

by then, it was nothing to me but cloying!"

-- Bane
posted by orange ball at 2:24 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


No one has any reason or excuse to make fun of any other kind of candy while circus peanuts exist.

No one.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:27 PM on October 31, 2017 [8 favorites]


Put me in the camp that loves Kerr kisses. For me, it's the bbbbbbbbats I hated the most. Too little candy, too much stick to be worthwhile.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 2:34 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Take it from me, the Kerr's people don't play around.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:35 PM on October 31, 2017 [5 favorites]


> The product page sure sounds unappealing. "Made with 10% real molasses". Also "No high fructose corn syrup", but then the #1 ingredient is "Corn syrup". I guess it's 50% fructose, not 55%? Woo!

Run-of-the-mill corn syrup has been a standard ingredient in cane sugar candies for decades before HFCS draped its veil of decrepitude across American industrial food, to control sucrose crystallization. Otherwise all your favorite candies would have random chunks of brittle unflavored sugar in them.
posted by ardgedee at 2:39 PM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


Sure, I've got a bottle of Karo in my pantry. But I'm not pretending that ordinary corn syrup is significantly healthier than HFCS.
posted by Nelson at 2:51 PM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


- Made with 10% molasses
- No artificial colours
- No high fructose corn syrup
- No modified or hydrogenated fats or oils
- Peanut free
- Tree-nut free
- Gluten free
- Vegetarian
- Halal


What, not kosher?
posted by elsietheeel at 2:58 PM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


Bleech, straight from the pillow case into the garbage.
posted by Gwynarra at 3:15 PM on October 31, 2017


Never seen them in Montreal growing up. Tire Sainte-Catherine on the other hand....heaven!

posted by Malingering Hector at 3:40 PM on October 31, 2017


OH JEEZ, these things. I lost a tooth from one of these, and to make it worse the tooth got stuck in the lump and I kinda choked on my own putty-clad baby tooth...

...Needless to say they were banned in our household from that day forth.

Fun times.
posted by InkDrinker at 4:00 PM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


I bought these for my mom because they're her favourite. I like them, though I prefer tootsie rolls.
posted by jb at 4:12 PM on October 31, 2017


Molasses Kisses and Eatmore 4 EVA

Because I fucking love molasses and other things that taste like dirt! Now where did I put those carob chews...?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:18 PM on October 31, 2017


But candy corn is the devil
And also candy roll rockets bleck
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:20 PM on October 31, 2017


Just stole two kisses from my son's trick-or-treat bag. Soft, sweet, molasses goodness, just like I remember.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 4:24 PM on October 31, 2017


As a transplant to Ottawa, I haven't tried them. I wonder if I could barter the Kerr's lollipops I'm handing out (sour and soda-flavored) for some.

I'm keeping some of the root-beer flavoured ones for myself though.
posted by sebastienbailard at 4:29 PM on October 31, 2017


I love those molasses kisses, but I can't afford to eat them :D I just know one of them would pull a filling!
posted by Calzephyr at 4:40 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Even though I find Tootsie Rolls to be disgusting little cylinders of despair, Kerr's Kisses are pretty damn good. And when it's not Halloween, there's always BB Bats, where the point is to slowly suck the taffy candy until it flows into a twisty point.
posted by maudlin at 4:44 PM on October 31, 2017


Eat More doesn't taste like molasses to me. It's kind of a chocolate-ish non-chocolate, like tootsie rolls. Plus peanuts. Delicious hiking snack.

The closest American candy to Kerr's kisses is probably Bit O Honey.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 4:49 PM on October 31, 2017


They can’t be worse than Boston’s regional confection, the earwax-flavored Necco Wafer.

Somehow, my Dad likes ‘em.

I’d sooner chug Marmite.
posted by jenkinsEar at 5:23 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Bit O'Honey is literally the greatest candy

I am fond of Necco but only certain flavours of Necco. I really like the white ones. The only single-flavour rolls you can get are chocolate, which are Okay but not The Best.
posted by halation at 5:29 PM on October 31, 2017


Oh, come on! I remember getting tiny packets of Thrills gum as a kid. Yes, those purple monstrosities now promoted as tasting like soap. Kerr's molasses kisses aren't in the same league of bad Halloween candy.
posted by peppermind at 6:07 PM on October 31, 2017 [5 favorites]


My parents kept our bad candy and gave it out next year (sometimes even in the same year if we came back early). We would also take some rejects to friends houses and school and swap them. Candy arbitrage.

The hardest part of Halloween was hiding your candy from your brothers.
posted by srboisvert at 6:54 PM on October 31, 2017


I am fond of Necco

Me too. Funny thing was a few years ago, they went on an "All Natural Flavor" kick and they were awful. Fortunately they went back to the artificial flavors.

My wish is for a combo roll of black/white/chocolate.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:54 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


But yeah as I kid I was like "I wore a winter jacket under my costume and risked getting mugged for unicef box for this crap?"
posted by srboisvert at 6:55 PM on October 31, 2017


Sweet.
posted by clavdivs at 7:07 PM on October 31, 2017


Take it from me, the Kerr's people don't play around.

I love that the original tweet responded by apologizing for saying "crap". That was the most Canadian exchange ever.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:09 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


Coffee crisp! Coffee crisp!
posted by atomicstone at 7:49 PM on October 31, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love them. I don't care who knows it. And you know what? I have to fight my son for them, because he loves them! So maybe its genetic (that might be worth exploring in somebody's PhD thesis, but I digress). This year we got 4 and 1 knock off version and I plan to feast on these in the days to come! Viva Kerr's kisses! Viva molasses!
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:04 PM on October 31, 2017


I love molasses, but I've never heard of these. Now I have to find some, just so i can try them. As an aside, I make a homemade modeling chocolate that is like a tootsie roll, and even though you have to mix it with corn syrup to get a texture like clay, for modeling, if you start with a good chocolate, it's way more edible than a tootsie roll.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 8:13 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


I’ve never heard of these either, but I just looked at a photo of one in the second link, and just from looking at the wrapper, I know exactly how it tastes.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:49 PM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I am no fan of these things, but I must give props to Kerr’s for busting out the crying bunny gif in the Twitter exchange (from the “between Hopper and Kerr’s” link). Well played, Kerr’s. Well played.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:39 AM on November 1, 2017


Not a single one in my daughter's candy bag. Not a single one.

The local dollar store must not carry them.
posted by clawsoon at 6:32 AM on November 1, 2017


The local dollar store must not carry them.

I think only certain Dollar stores carry them but you can buy them at most of the big chain grocery stores (Loblaws, Sobeys) and, hilariously, Home Hardware - if you hurry you can get some on sale!
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:10 AM on November 1, 2017


Coffee crisp! Coffee crisp!

this is a thread about *bad* candy tho
posted by halation at 8:22 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


> Kerr's molasses kisses aren't in the same league of bad Halloween candy.

These things were close to the bottom of my personal Halloween candy hierarchy, but I would eat them. Thrills I would trade to my brother - who actually liked them - for the candy equivalent of pennies on the dollar in what was an early childhood lesson in supply, demand and leverage.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:33 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


if you hurry you can get some on sale!

Just checked - they are plentiful at the Bulk Barn (at least at the one I was at) and currently going for $2.49/lb. I imagine that price may drop over time.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:43 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm so glad for this thread; it's reminded me to go to the Bulk Barn on the way home and hopefully stock up on molasses kisses. Ms. nobeagle is definitely the number 1 reason I immigrated to Canada, but molasses kisses are up there. :)

The closest thing in the US are those peanut butter taffy-things in the orange or black wrappers. Ugh, I was never a fan, but as the younger sibling I tried to like them as my sister never stole these from me. .... hmmm, maybe that's why I also like black licorice?
posted by nobeagle at 11:40 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was just over at the local drug store and there was only one shelf of 50% off candy left and it was all the same type. A LOT of it. What was that one type, you ask? Kerrs Candy Kisses.

I've never had one, but since I tend to like flavours most other people don't like (feed me all the salty licorice, please), I suspect I'd like them.
posted by urbanlenny at 1:10 PM on November 1, 2017


Just pulled one out of the Halloween haul and I can confirm that they are not great. I think a formulation with 25% molasses would be a lot tastier.
posted by TheLateGreatAbrahamLincoln at 3:53 PM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


They sound pretty excellent to me.
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:04 PM on November 1, 2017


Even though I find Tootsie Rolls to be disgusting little cylinders of despair, [...]
Per Mike Peterson, at Comic Strip of the Day (who is a bit older than I (and which is a fabulous blog)):
Tootsie Rolls were Old School even when I was a kid. They were first made in 1896, and I suspect did not taste like rubber candles back then or they wouldn't still be around 121 years later. They were still pretty good in the '50s.
I regret that after thirty years working as a programmer, I no longer understand enough about the web to give a link to the actual post containing the quote.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 2:56 PM on November 2, 2017


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