Dive Brief:
- Candy company Just Born, announced the plan to launch bags of 24 Peeps Minis— about 40% the size of conventional Peeps — to be sold at major retailers, beginning May 1.
- Peeps Minis will come in sour watermelon, strawberry creme, and chocolate creme, flavors calculated to appeal to Millennials' tastes.
- Just Born is also increasing the year-round presence of Peeps via partnerships with Six Flags, Disney, and Toys R Us.
Dive Insight:
While Peeps have traditionally been associated with holidays, particularly Easter, Brian Bachrach, senior marketing manager of innovation, says, "We're making every day into a holiday." Though other candy makers have also offered miniature versions of their confections, Lynn Dornblaser, director of innovation & insight at the research firm, Mintel is doubtful about the move: "Peeps mean springtime. They mean nostalgia. I think year-round Peeps would lessen the impact and harm the brand long-term."
Bachrach is sure of the move, though: "We are supremely confident in the success of Peeps on an every day basis." He says the brand's move is a response to consumer demand for Peeps year-round. Of course, not everyone is eating them. As Bachrach says, "I challenge you to find any other food product where a full one-third of the purchases don't go to their normal, intended use: eating." Indeed, for some of us who didn't dream of eating those air-filled sugar-laden concoctions, the nostalgia we feel towards them is most associated with watching them deflate (then blow up) in science demonstrations.