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Design Brief: Candy Corn's Sweet but Complicated Past · Design Darlings

• Ro Rich: Hello, darling. Allie: Hello, darling. Ro Rich: I'm Allie: I'm Allie Miller. Ro Rich: Robin Richardson and today we're gonna have a design brief. Allie: Design brief. Ro Rich: A design brief. We're keeping it brief. And hold on to your jack-o'-lanterns because this one is going to be controversial. Allie: Ooh. Ro Rich: You're either gonna be gleeful or you're gonna gag. And this is let's see, it's a Halloween tradition dating back to 1898. And you love it or you hate it, I'm talking about candy crust. Allie: Candy corn yes, let's go. Ro Rich: listen, so first of all, are you gleeful or are you gagging at candy corn? Allie: I think a lot of people, I have a really love-hate relationship with candy corn. I am one of those people that have what I'm just gonna coin candy corn amnesia, where every year I'm like, yeah, I freaking love candy corn. let's go. And then I have a few pieces and I go, amazing. What a unique flavor. We love it. And then by like the fourth or fifth piece, I'm like. Do I do I enjoy this? And then by like the tenth piece, I say to myself, Okay, I'm good. I'm I'm fine. I can wait another 12 months to to like taste this flavor again. And then I move about my day. I don't I'm not angry towards it. I think some people get irrationally angry towards candy corn. I'm like, guys, calm down. It's sucrose and some food coloring. Like, let's give it a break. not the enemy here. They're much, much worse candy than candy corn. And yeah, I think some people get a little too invested in the candy corn rhetoric. But I Ro Rich: I would Allie: I give it a chance every year and then I and then I forget about it for twelve months. Ro Rich: I'm going to say that I think candy corn has also changed since we were kids. as a child Allie: Mm. Ro Rich: of the eighties. I'm with the same with you. I'm like, yeah, candy corn. I have a nostalgic vibe for it. Then I eat it and I go, why is this waxier than I remember it to be? And I think Allie: Mm. Ro Rich: that over the years I don't know if the sugar type has changed. I don't know what has changed about it. But I'm like, do I remember it this way as a kid or is it a little bit worse? Allie: Yeah. there are tiers of candy corn superiority. So most people Ro Rich: Mm. Allie: I think the villain of the candy corn is I'm sorry, rock, rock candy corn, rock candy in general. I I think that's really where people's hatred starts. 'Cause for me, there is a type of candy that if you grew up in a rural area You probably had some tractor supply chain company. the Walmarts of the Midwest are tractor supply chain stores. In Minnesota specifically, there's a chain called Fleet Farm. And these big kind of industrial stores always have this like weird off-brand generic candy that it's not, it's not even like generic candy. It's just the super minimalist packaging, and they're always family size. So there'd be two, three gallon Ro Rich: U Allie: bags of gummy worms or peachos, or they're all just knockoffs of name brand candy. And candy corn from that packaging is always better. There's something about it that's Ro Rich: Mm. Allie: better than Brock candy corn or candy corn with a fun, colorful, whimsical packaging. Ro Rich: Huh, I wonder if big candy ruined candy corn. So it's funny you mentioned the Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: tractor supply sh store because the it's it's three colors. It's a tricolor kernel. And there would be three passes of hot fondant into a cornstarch mold. And so that would that's what your layers became. And it originally was s marketed as chicken feed. It's kinda like a joke when half of Americans worked on farms. And then in eighteen ninety eight, Golitz, which is now Jelly Belly, picked up the recipe and they were the ones who were like, it's like chicken feed, ha ha ha. But then the association with Halloween grew in the nineteen fifties and they had a big spike in October advertising. So we didn't always think about it as a Halloween candy. Allie: Wait, really? Ro Rich: Yes. So the in the inventor, it's traditionally credited to a guy named George Renninger. and even Jelly Allie: George. Ro Rich: Belly like so there's a 1910 patent for candy corn that links George Renninger to V Von Derl, Vanderel, who he also I think made this with. And so it was marketed as chicken feed. And that was Golitz who decided to make that j the Jelly Bell Belly people now, not the original Philadelphia maker. So even Allie: Right. Ro Rich: Jelly Belly isn't sure if it started in 1898 or 1900, but it was like around the turn of the century. and so it's funny because the nineteen fifties shift to a package trick or treat candy and ads is what made Candy Corn also turn up like at Thanksgiving and then they did an Easter run. So Allie: Mm-hmm. Ro Rich: in my mind, thinking about it being more fondant based, that's the candy corn I remember. Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: It was softer, it had a better flavor and vibe to it. And I mean Fondant is I mean, my gosh, it's everywhere on Great British Make Off. Everyone loves also everyone loves Allie: Right. Ro Rich: loves or hates Fondant, which is so funny. But I remember it being more fondant like as a kid, where now I'm like, it's just kinda waxy and doesn't have the flavor that I remember it. But maybe that's just my brain. I don't know. Allie: even realize that it was Fonden. Is it still Fonden? Ro Rich: I d I don't think it is. So it supposed Allie: Because that is a totally different we're in a whole other ballgame if it was Fawnin. Here's the question then, Ro Rich: I know. I buttercream Allie: is Nara Smith making homemade candy corn? I wanna find who where's the trad wife influencer that's like taking ten hours to make homemade fond and candy corn? I wanna try it. If somebody's doing it. Ro Rich: Yeah. Th you would think that that would come back, right? 'Cause we're getting away from red forty and fake dies. So where is my honest to goodness down home Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: candy corn, where it went from, this early turn of the century farming candy when you people were farming, and it was a penny candy. Then in the fifties it became this Halloween staple, hello, back to marketing. Allie: Mm. Ro Rich: And so I think it's surviving on the story, not the product quality. It's just a tradition with sugar coating, but I want to return to good candy corn if there ever was a time. Allie: Yeah. Ballerina Farms, if you want to make more money, here's your opportunity, man. Let's go. Ro Rich: my gosh. Allie: okay, I also know the patenting. early nineteen hundred patents crack me up. What about candy corn? What are you patenting? Is it the colors? Is it the shape? Is it the mold? Like what is the aesthetic or functional aspect you're you're patenting? Ro Rich: I don't know. I was surprised when I came up on that fact. Let me go look because I had no idea that there was a patent around this. I think it's so funny that you would one would patent a candy corn. Like how how does one do that? I mean, think like Lego, do you know how Lego is patented? So that you can't have I mean, there's a lot of wannabe Legos, but Lego is patented. with the exact ratio of dots on the brick. And so the space Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: of the cir the size of the circles and their space between each other on the little brick, the ratio Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: and proportions, that's what's patented. So it makes me wonder if the shape and maybe the line and the three colors are what they patented in Candy Corn. Allie: Mm. Ro Rich: That would be my guess. Allie: Yeah, as an iconic shape design. That's interesting. The chicken feed Ro Rich: Yeah. Yeah. Because Allie: thing also makes so much sense to me too. I don't know gonna sound really hick, country. if you ever went to a county fair or a state fair growing up, did you ever play Tic Tac Toe with a chicken? Ro Rich: No I have not done that. Allie: Would you like me to explain tic tac toe with a chicken? Ro Rich: Please tell me more. I have a feeling I know what this is. Continue. Allie: You might be country if you played tic-tac-toe with a chicken. but yeah, there's a there's just a fair game where you have chicken feed and it's basically a tic-tac-toe square and you you put feed into the squares and then the idea is that you're like you're trying to get the chicken to get your feed versus the feed that's already there, and then every time it pecks in a hole, it's picking its like X or its O. Ro Rich: Mm-hmm. Allie: And it it's just like a stupid carnival game. It's like, can you beat the chicken and tic tac toe? but yeah, chicken feed and you're they're eating the little corn c kernels and that that iconography. It makes sense to me as how it could have started in a rural context or a very the there's an Americana about, feed and seeds and chicken and livestock. Ro Rich: Yeah. Allie: I can see it being like at carnivals and candy corn as like a a a treat. Ro Rich: Well, half of America farmed b at the turn of the century and it does look like a corn kernel in its own way. Allie: Right. Yeah. Ro Rich: And so, let's see, apparently it's not patented anymore. and obviously that you could use corn syrup to make the candy. and George Renninger, he was at the w Wonderl Vanderl candy company. It's W N D R L E. I don't know how you would say that. and so Let's see. Yeah, it was originally called chicken feed and I that's so funny. They also made other types of produce with it. So it's a fondant candy, right? You can make you can make little molds of whatever Allie: yeah. Ro Rich: you want. which is really cool. Allie: Well, now they have the the little pumpkins. I'd also like to talk through where, you know, where has our disdain where has our disdain from candy corn come from where are we today? Ro Rich: I think I think it's the bad I know you pointed a finger at Brock's earlier. I now I want to try the Jelly Belly original gourmet candy corn. I need to do a taste test. I need a side-by-side. Allie: Mm-hmm. Ro Rich: I really need to know what happened here. Allie: And what's interesting is despite the divisiveness of candy corn, it's still in it's still an iconic object of Halloween. Like it is, it's untenable. if you Google image Halloween icons, or if you were making like a little Halloween flyer, candy corn would be on there. You'd have a pumpkin, you'd have a ghost, you'd have a skeleton, you'd have a candy corn. So despite it being a candy that so many people vehemently are like this is a terrible candy, it it will at least for the foreseeable future be be tied to Halloween. Ro Rich: It will. Now I'm like I cannot learn enough about candy corn. And I feel like it was a real missed opportunity for us to not do a taste test live. But who says we can't do one next week? It's fine. Allie: We could do it next week. Okay, according to this article you shared about the patents around Halloween candy and Halloween in general, in the United States, we sell thirty five million pounds of candy corn each year. How what percentage of that candy corn do you think we're actually eating? Let's be real. Ro Rich: Mm, how much of it goes to the chickens? How much of it is actual chicken Allie: How much of it goes to chickens? Ro Rich: feed? Allie: It's the potpourri bowl or the the fancy soap bowl of Halloween. I think we put out candy corn as a decorative element to say hey, candy corn is here. I don't think we're eating thirty five million pounds. Ro Rich: I don't think we are either. Well Allie: Or, you know what candy corn is great for? I think it's gone beyond the actual taste of it. Like we're no we're no longer buying candy corn because we actually want to eat it. We're using it for just other Halloween things. Like I think of candy corn, I think of like decorating cookies. So we're buying candy corn to like decorate things or use it for other things, Ro Rich: Yeah. Allie: but we're using it for like non-edible purposes. We're buying it for its iconography, not to actually be consumed. Ro Rich: Talk about a design vibe. That you have something that's so synonymous with a holiday or time of year that you've got you gotta kinda have a chokehold on it. Allie: Mm-hmm. Ro Rich: Wow. Allie: Is there any other candy that's not candy corn that is like, is there a candy that could dethrone candy corn as the official Halloween candy? Cause all candy in some ways, right? We trick-or-treat, we get candy. So we're not including a Twix, a Kit Kat, Those are that's just candy, Is there another distinctively Halloween candy? Ro Rich: Th y that is only seasonal. Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: Hmm. I don't know. I can't think of something that I'm like, that is definitely a Halloween or a holiday design I mean, Cadbury cream eggs are very Easter. You see the Allie: Right. Ro Rich: the animals every year auditioned to be a Cadbury bunny and there's only one Cadbury bunny. Peeps. are there Allie: Mm-hmm. Peeps. Yeah, Easter Ro Rich: are there like Halloween peeps now? Do they make pumpkin peeps? Allie: There probably are, but for me, that's almost like the candy corn becoming like a pumpkin candy corn. Ro Rich: Y Allie: the origin of the holiday, You have spring and Easter. That's peep season. And and now marketing wise, you have all variations. Reese's, right? You have Reese's pumpkins and Reese's Christmas trees Ro Rich: Reese's eggs. Allie: and Reese's eggs, But that the variation of it, you you don't first associate Reese's with a holiday. You associate it with its original candy shape. Whereas candy corn you immediately associate peeps, you associate with a holiday first. So Ro Rich: Mm. Allie: yeah, I don't think there's another distinctive Halloween candy. Ro Rich: That's a good challenge. I feel like that's for the audience to figure out and then bring back to us. Also, the amount of companies, intellectual property firms, that are writing about Halloween spooky patents. I'm look living for this. I'm gonna give you more links. We're gonna put him in a Allie: What else are you finding? What other patterns do we have? Ro Rich: show notes about I found spooky patent about the Ouija board. man, these Allie: Ouija board. Ro Rich: are so good. Maybe we end up doing like a deep dive around certain patents or things. I still think we should do a deep dive on skulls and symbolism. I think we've got some homework to do, my friend. right. Allie: Yeah. okay, well, d what are our concluding thoughts on candy corn in this design brief? What can candy corn teach us about design? Ro Rich: You know what? The best design is sometimes just grassroots. It's like meeting the moment. It's people just like the popsicle we talked about in that one episode. Someone Allie: Mm-hmm. Ro Rich: you know, you're making something, it's meeting the need where you're trying to make cheap candy. Popsicles were like a cheap iced treat. Also, when was that patented? I think it like nineteen twelve or something like that. So Allie: Yeah. Ro Rich: it's funny that people are inventing things and then deciding this is really unique and I wanna come up with a way to Put some parameters around it. over a hundred years later, we still have candy corn. And I don't think anyone set out to be like, We need to make the next best Halloween candy. I don't think there was people sitting around a table doing that. I think it just happened. Allie: There you go. I think for me, good design is a design that can evolve with culture and time and people. I find it really interesting that our current understanding of Candy Corn in cr very different than sort of its original creation. So, good on Candy Corn. Having staying power. Like who who could say they've lasted over almost a hundred years? You know, good on Ro Rich: What an icon. Candy corn. Total Allie: What an icon. You know what I mean? Unsung hero of our confectionery world, the candy corn. it doesn't let the negativity Ro Rich: But I Allie: keep it down. Ro Rich: Do you ever think candy corn will have a revival? Do you think it's gonna have the trad wife revival that you're calling on it to have? Allie: Mm. if we look at history, I don't think it'll have a revival in the context of Halloween. If anything, I think it'll find a new audience, a new recipe, a new ingredient. if it has staying power, which it has so far, it'll it'll live on in some new some new venue. Yeah. So Ro Rich: Hm. All right. Allie: We'll see. Okay. Well with that, you've been briefed. And until next time. Ro Rich: Yes you can. Allie: Alright, bye.