In spite of continuous bashing in the media, Americans actually love candy corn. (Maybe not brunch-flavored though, and maybe not twelve pounds of it at once.) Still, according to the 40,000 people who responded to an Influenster survey about their favorite Halloween candies: Americans love candy corn.
Believe it or not, the humble maize-shaped candy received top honor in the most number of states, leading the pack in Oregon, Wyoming, Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina. Which means that either those states are severely misguided or lack discerning taste buds. Or some combination of the two. (Okay, more media-bashing. Sorry.)
Analyze the data further, though, and one very reassuring fact emerges: just because candy corn swept the most number of states doesn’t mean it received the most number of votes. In fact, that honor belongs to the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. According to Influenster, it was one of three candies to be counted among the top treats by every state in the U.S. (The other two candies were Kit Kats and Butterfingers.)
The full-country infographic of the results is the most interesting thing to look at, though. Apparently Arizonans really enjoy their pyramid-shaped Swiss chocolate. And how about that New Hampshire love for Tootsie Rolls? Also, what is West Virginia thinking, with its Oreos selection? How are Oreos a candy?
Twitter’s been having a heyday with the map, with users tweeting their disapproval of the survey results:
https://twitter.com/thecultureofme/status/788440377422405632
https://twitter.com/MissRunsNguns/status/788418816959127553
Hmm. California, I'm not sure Life Savers even count as Halloween candy.
— Sarah de Crescenzo (@sarahdc) October 18, 2016
And hey, West Virginia, Oreos aren't candy
— Scott In His Thirties (@DigiRanger1994) October 18, 2016
brb gonna go grab some candy pic.twitter.com/dad4wyt1kg
— ChrisInDC (@harDCor_barra) October 18, 2016
I'm assuming these states that picked candy corn have never seen other candy before?
— Anthony Y (@hunkura) October 18, 2016
just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good. Reality TV is popular. Is It Good? No.
— Nathanael Rutherford (@Mr_Rutherford) October 18, 2016
Candy Corn may have won the 'electoral' vote, but Reese's took the popular vote.
— Amber (@NYCdeb8tr) October 18, 2016
https://twitter.com/katatwell/status/788442986921070592
Taking a broader view of things, if you believe the global map FamilyBreakFinder put out today, then America’s favorite candy is the M&M.
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The map isn’t perfect — for example, in many cases FamilyBreakFinder’s research yielded only overarching brands and not specific products. That said, it’s still a fascinating look at popular brands of candy around the world. Europe is largely dominated by Milka and Cadbury chocolates, Romania really likes Orbit, and Pakistan is fond of a cookie of the “egg and milk” variety. And what’s this Lunch Bar that South Africans have taken a keen to? Do they really eat it for lunch? Is that why it’s so popular?
