The Science and History Behind Pop Rocks

The Science and History Behind Pop Rocks

Today I will walk you through how important science plays in creating sweets that many enjoy, focusing mainly on pop rocks. Here's a little history first. Pop Rocks were created in 1956 by William A. Mitchell, a food scientist working for general foods research. He was trying to make an instant soda by trapping carbon dioxide in soda tablets. When the Pop Rocks were heated to a certain temperature they would start to pop because the carbon dioxide would instantly leave the candy. Clearly he failed but created this fun candy!

His clever mistake soon turned into massive amounts of packets being sent all around the world. Each packet cost 15 cents but with the rise of popularity the prices skyrocketed allowing them to sell each small packet at a whopping 1.25 per pack. How did such an odd candy become so popular? Well it's the science behind it that makes the candy unique. Before the creation of Pop Rocks there were tootsie rolls, hot tamales, M&M's etc. They are all very good but they are all still candy. Pop Rocks allowed the audience to enjoy their candy while still having fun!

In the late 70's however Pop Rocks decreased in popularity when talk about mixing the candy with soda would cause your head to explode. Crazy right? Well most people believed it causing a decrease in sales. This video to your left explains how they are not actually dangerous. An interesting story that he told was that once a truck delivering Pop Rocks got so hot inside that the Pop Rocks all popped at the same time causing the door of the truck to blow open! Even though there have been little cases of whether Pop Rocks are dangerous or not I can promise you they are not. The only thing people should be watching out for is the amount of sugar!

The scientist that started it all was able to retire with 70 patents to his name. While his most popular product were Pop Rocks, he had a big part in the creation of Cool Whip and instant Jell-O. This scientist was clearly on a roll but he didn't want to stop there. He continued to create many products that could one day be even more popular than Pop Rocks!

In the 70's General foods released a candy called space dust. This failed miserably for many reasons. One being that they are the same exact thing as Pop Rocks but have a different name. It made me think why a company would try to create competition for themselves. The second reason they did not sell is actually quite funny. Many children were afraid to buy the candy because the ad released in the 70's had flying cherries that actually ended up scaring many children enough that they wouldn't want to buy it. They got to caught up with the fame that they didn't think before releasing. Even though the product was not very successful I highly recommend watching the ad because for me it was actually very funny!

Cites used
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrtPJmdEDUo

http://gabescientasticblog.blogspot.com/

https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/poprocks/
https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/question114.htm
https://www.thekitchn.com/the-science-behind-pop-rocks-candy-224718

Can Chocolate Buy Love?

Can Chocolate Buy Love?

Have you ever wondered why there is so much chocolate on the shelves around Valentine's day? Well hopefully this blog will help you better understand why that is. Interesting fact before I start: Have you ever wondered how chocolate started? Well chocolate has not always been a sweet that one would chose from the supermarket or candy store. It was more common to be in drinks to relieve constipation. Disgusting right?

I recently read a very good article posted by the washington post on how chocolate has been transformed into a sensual and enjoyable gift. The link to the article is Here. Very interesting right? Just to summarize what the authors were highlighting: Making chocolate the official snack of Valentine's day was started by the Cadbury founders. The Cadbury boys  grew up in a Quaker household that did not ever indulge. The boys decided to start selling chocolate during the victorian age in England. They would sell their chocolates in heart shaped boxes in hopes to start a trend. As many of you have probably guessed, they were very successful. As noted in the article they had to weight their cadbury chocolate beliefs against the Quakers.   

Chocolate has always been a fan favorite since the times of the aztecs. Interesting enough many aztec rulers thought chocolate was an aphrodisiac. In an article that I read they mentioned that chocolate was the "food of the gods". So isn't it fitting that a food that many find as an aphrodisiac is chosen later as the "official valentine sweet". Chocolate's role on valentines day in the U.S is a beautiful sight for all but believe it or not it's not the same in other countries. Here is an interesting Link that talks about Japan. For those of you who did not have time or were a little confused with the article, Japan treats valentines day a lot different than the U.S. 

According to the article that I read, Japan treats Valentine's day a lot different that other countries. It is custom for females to buy their male co-workers chocolates on Valentine's day. In the last couple years this custom has been changing though for many reasons considering it is sexist. In the article is notes that Godiva is refusing to sell chocolates to japan for Valentine's day since they do not agree with their sexist traditions. According to the article Japan does not treat Valentine's day as a day for love, but as a day for getting. 

The Huffington Post posted a really interesting article recently on how Valentine's day is celebrated in different cultures. Here is the Link. I highly recommend this because it shows how different countries react to such a popular U.S holiday. What caught my eye was how Brazil sees Valentine's day. Since the have the Carnival around the same time as the lovers holiday they chose to not celebrate it at all. Instead they have a similar holiday June 12 named "Dia Dos Namorados" which in English is "Lover's day"


Cites used
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost
https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/lifestyle/2015/05/11/experiencing-a-midday-slump-eat-some-dark-chocolate/
http://travelreviewmagazine.com/rio-de-janeiro-brazil/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/397583473334244486/

Patriots, Falcons, or Skittles?

                                    Patriots, Falcons, or Skittles?

    Hello everyone welcome to my Blog! My name is Christian Dunn and I am a business and spanish major at Saint Michael's College. Since the day I was born I have had a strong sweet tooth. I am always looking around for some sort of candy have it be in a grocery store or another department store.  The point of my blog is to show everyone how much candy companies due to grab their customers! You may not think about it at first but a lot goes into making and branding a small bag of candy.

I thought it would be fitting today to focus on a brand that is doing all it can to convince the Super Bowl watchers that their product is the only way to go. If you haven't guess it yet it is Skittles! Skittles does a great job at getting their point across while still making many laugh!

Skittles recently released "leaked" videos on what their super bowl ads might be. Check them out here: Link. Skittles has announced that they will be doing something a lot different this year. Every year companies try to create a funny yet informative ad about their company and usually it works! Skittles wanted to tap into something entirely different this year. Check out this video to see what I mean! Link

If you didn't have time to watch the video i'll explain. Skittles will not be spending the five million dollars to get their 30 second ad in the Super Bowl. Instead they will be showing it to one viewer, a young adult from Canoga Springs California by the name of Marcos Menendez. Why you might ask. It's brilliant if you think about it. Now every ad in the Super Bowl is funny but none of them are exclusive. To watch their funny ad you must go to their facebook page during halftime of the super bowl and watch Marcos Menendez react to their ad. Some might find this crazy but in the end Skittles will be one of the first exclusive Super Bowl ads.





Will they be successful? We will have to find out! With the rise of technology and social media it is rare to find a child not scrolling through random pictures on their phones. Now kids and adults everywhere will be going to the Facebook page to see what all the fuss is about! Now there are many pros and cons to doing this that the company had to have considered. One being that since it will not be on tv wont many viewers be more focused on what is going on on the television? Also you may have thought as to why they don't just pay the five million to have their funny ad wow the bigger audience. Well they do not have to spend the big pot of money to have the ad and they are making their ad more appealing by making it exclusive. As you have probably noticed by my pictures Skittles is one of the leading sponsors of the NFL. From this they will have advertisements lining the stadium which will remind the viewers to tune into their facebook page. Brilliant right? Because on their Facebook page they can put all sorts of advertisements that any other advertiser wouldn't be able to include in their 30 second ad. I can't wait to tune in and see what they have planned for us.

Cites used
http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/david-schwimmer-feeds-skittles-to-an-animatronic-sandwich-in-a-teaser-for-skittles-super-bowl-ad/
http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/skittles-poised-a-super-bowl-ad/295847/
https://twitter.com/magikmarcos?lang=en
http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/video/what-were-they-thinking/wwtt-skittles-saves-5m-on-super-bowl-ad/
http://food-lovers.wikia.com/wiki/File:SKITTLES_RAINBOW.jpg