Never has a candy enjoyed such a rabid cult following as the Peeps Marshmallow Chicks that are manufactured by the Just Born Candy Company of Bethlehem, PA. The original chicks were colored yellow, but over the years the colors have expanded to include purple, green, blue, and Target stores exclusive red.

The candy itself is a simple marshmallow shaped like a chick and coated with colored sugar. While the granular coating provides a course initial texture, beneath is the familiar soft white squishiness of marshmallow that reveals itself as the sugar dissolves on your tongue. The taste is not really original or spectacular. It is uber-sweet and squishy, and marshmallow fans will enjoy it, but in the end it is a sugar coated marshmallow.

However their celebrity as a candy has resulted in a number of uses besides consumption, including what is called Peep Jousting. The basic premise is to lick the right side of two Peeps and stick a toothpick “lance” to its side. Then place both Peeps into your microwave facing each other, turn it on, and the winner is the Peep who does not explode or become deflated. I can think of no other candy that has been forced to fight its own for consumption. Nor can I think of any candy whose fans are crazed enough to think of such a concept.

Hence, while the candy is simple and plain, it has had enough power to inspire a culture around it and therefore I’m giving it around 2 buckets more than I normally would.

Popcorn’s Rating:

The movie to watch while swallowing those little yellow chicks by the handful is Chicken Run! We can let the Peeps hope before placing them into the microwave arena of death… can’t we?

Popularity: 86% [?]