Hershey’s First Chocolate Bar Redesign in 125 Years Is for the Texting Generation

Hershey’s first chocolate bar redesign in 125 years is for the texting generation

After 125 years of serving America with the comforting stability of a classic milk-chocolate bar that never changes, Hershey’s is upending the bar’s design by adding emojis, the chocolate company’s edgy version of sitting backwards on a chair.

The new emoji chocolate bars, which will be available for a limited time starting this summer, will feature 25 of “the most popular emojis” engraved in the bar’s squares. “In today’s text savvy world, many conversations start (and end) with an emoji,” Hershey’s senior brand manager Kriston Ohm told People. “By adding an emoji design to each pip of chocolate, we hope that parents and kids are inspired to share a chocolate emoji and make a connection with someone new.” Looking forward to forming meaningful human connections by breaking off squares of poop emoji-engraved chocolates!

And in other news…

• A 50-year-old billionaire and heir to a Greek Coca-Cola bottling fortune has been arrested after authorities allegedly found 5,000 cannabis plants, hemp seeds, and CBD products on the man’s private plane. He was also ordered last month to pay $11.1 million in damages to a former employee who said she was fired after refusing his sexual advances, so safe to say this guy sucks? [Vice]
• Rumor has it longtime partners New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Food Network star Sandra Lee are no longer living together. To those rumors, Lee says: “knock it off!” [Page Six]
• Ruby chocolate, known for its gorgeous millennial pink hue, is coming to the U.S. and Canada. If all goes well, Swiss maker Barry Callebaut says ruby chocolate will be widely available as soon as next month. [Food Dive]
• McDonald’s is shrinking its all-day breakfast menu. By the end of fall, local restaurant operators will get to pick and choose which breakfast items to serve past 10:30 a.m. [Restaurant Business]
• Burger King’s Impossible Whopper is now available in three more cities — Miami, Florida; Columbus, Georgia; and Montgomery, Alabama — following the chain’s initial test in St. Louis, Missouri. This is part of Burger King’s planned nationwide rollout. [CNN]
• A social media backlash followed a Pittsburgh amusement park’s switch to a new kind of cheese sauce for its “world-famous” fries, resulting in the park’s return to the old cheese sauce, as well as this singular line uttered by a local fan: “I’m pretty passionate about my cheese.” [CBS Pittsburgh]
• How sourness and acidity came to dominate our dining habits (and our discourse), as seen in the rise of kombucha, sumac, and other tart foods. [NYT]
• Laura Dern and Will Ferrell are going to star in a comedy-drama based on true events about a couple who embezzles millions from a fruitcake company. [Deadline]
• Instant ramen: good for college dorm eating, great for … DIY home repairs?

• All AM Intel coverage [E]