Mint or Drug: Is Hershey's Cracked?

[Perception Addict]

Article from Philly about Hershey's Chocolates. Made me chuckle.

Mint or drug: Is Hershey's cracked?

Family Court Judge Lori Dumas Brooks wanted to make sure she wasn't overreacting.

So she held the small blue packet of powdered substance in her palm and showed it around at work yesterday.

Everyone asked the same thing:

What was she doing with crack cocaine?

"I thought she confiscated it in the courtroom," said Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty.

No one could believe what the tiny pouch actually was: a new breath mint made by - get this - Hershey's.

Ice Breakers Pacs, which hit the stores this month, are dissolvable pouches in blue or orange that look uncannily like tiny heat-sealed bags of cocaine, crack, heroin or any other powdered drug.

The Pacs, filled with powdered mint and sweetener, are meant to dissolve on the tongue like breath strips.

They're even packaged in a plastic slide-top case similar to the magnetic key cases drug dealers use to hide their wares under cars.

"I could not believe it," Judge Dumas Brooks said yesterday.

"Who in the world thought of that, and how did it get approved?"

The pouches are so realistic, they even fooled Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector William Blackburn.

"Being in narcotics the majority of my career, I thought it was the real stuff," said Blackburn.

"It's a disgrace to see a company selling a product like this and basically glorifying the drug trade. The best word to describe it is despicable."

The best word to describe Hershey's is . . . clueless.

"It's not intended to simulate anything," corporate spokesman Kirk Seville told me yesterday, refusing to acknowledge the similarities between the candy and street drugs.

"We have a longstanding commitment to consumer safety, product quality and responsible packaging," he said, adding that the Pacs are "clearly labeled."

"The dissolvable pouch is what makes the product innovative and unique. The overwhelming feedback from consumers is they love the product."

Maybe Hershey's should have had Linda Wagner in one of its focus groups.

Wagner is a 10-year veteran of the Police Department who switched to narcotics three years ago for personal reasons: Her teenage daughter died of a heroin overdose in 2001.

When Blackburn showed her the mint packets yesterday, Wagner was near tears.

"I was shocked," she said.

"Hershey's is totally irresponsible for marketing this product."

When Officer Regina Missouri saw them, she immediately conjured up the potentially deadly scenarios the look-alike pouches could create.

What if children use them and subsequently stumble upon and ingest a real bag of drugs, thinking they're mints, she said?

What if a drug dealer mixed some in with real street drugs and sold them to an unsuspecting buyer - who retaliated with a spray of bullets?

What if a teenager took them to school? Even though each pouch has a small Ice Breakers logo on it, how would a street-naive teacher differentiate it from drug packets, which are also sometimes labeled by their distributors?

"This is unheard of; it's an insult," said Missouri, a grandmother of three young children.

She brought the packets to the attention of her commanding officer in the Employee Assistance Program, Capt. Thomas Collier, who brought it to Blackburn's attention.

Officer Tracy Brooks, Missouri's colleague in the EAP, brought some home to show his wife, Judge Dumas Brooks.

And the judge imagined another scenario: the undermining of drug busts made on visual observation of money changing hands for colored packets of powder.

"This potentially could give them a legal out," said Dumas Brooks.

"It's terrible. It's terrible."

My jaw dropped, too, when I saw the Pacs. And everyone I showed them to thought they were street drugs.

Is Hershey's trying a new edgy and urban marketing tactic? Are the candy-makers brain-dead from too much chocolate?

It's hard to imagine a company so isolated that it doesn't recognize the similarities between its "newest refreshment innovation" and the powdered junk that's for sale on the streets.

Company founder Milton Hershey - who devoted his fortune to saving children - must be rolling in his grave.

Clearly the company needs to take this product off the shelves.

"I think some strong community groups, groups with parents that have lost a loved one should unite together and petition this company and demand that this product be taken off the market," Chief Inspector Blackburn said.

Officer Wagner plans to do her part.

"I'm going to contact Hershey and hopefully I'm going to get a meeting," she said.

"I'm going to bring my daughter's picture, and let them see what drugs can do."

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/loca..._cracked_.html

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Fascinating, thanks for sharing.
	Very good find!

[FuBai]

They always go to the idiots for extreme views to try and create a feeling of controversy. All they have done is highlight the illicit applications of this new sweet, but it is unlikely that it will be recalled. You might as well recall sugar or powdered milk.

[Metomni]

SWIM does not see why the appearance of a snack resembling something else is a problem at all, regardless of what it resembles.

Nice article.

[Senor Gribson]

you'll never believe what i saw in the store the other day, oregano! and it was in a ziploc-type bag too! clearly this company was using the resemblance to marijuana as a marketing gimmick!
and guess what i saw in the pharm department, pills! shelves of them, each with an uncanny resemblance to various illegal drugs!
the nerve of these companies, glorifying drugs! what is this world coming to?

oh i forgot to mention; some of those ramen noodle packets look remarkably like heroin, ban them too!

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Hah, nice points.
	Good (lol)

[p.p.a.420]

this is hilarious.

[El Calico Loco]

OMG, what if the childrenz start selling these things as crack and then get beat up by crackheads?? What if a cop thinks it's crack and tasers a kid??? OH NOES!!

What if, what if. What if people get hit by cars and die? We'd better lower the speed limit to 10mph. If it saves even one life, it's worth it.


ECL
(Bunch of neurotic fucking control freaks in this world, I swear...)

[AntiAimer]

Some people think too much, that's for sure.

Maybe there drug users because when Smurf saw it, it never ringed a "That looks like...". Smurf calls Shenanigans.

[23smooches]

Hahaha, Im a journalism major, this paper must be written by highschool kids. You should never put your yourself opinion(I, Me) in an article, and you should always remain completely neutral to the subject no matter what it may be. My jaw dropped, too, when I saw the Pacs. And everyone I showed them to thought they were street drugs. Clearly the company needs to take this product off the shelves. This article is full of huge journalism no nos and mistakes. This paper should have fired them, and their editors should have caught these things... THis is what happens when teachers let students slide with a C.

[ryanhall43]

Perhaps the author of the article was going for a similar style of journalism to Gonzo journalism. You know, where you insert yourself and your opinions into the writing. It is a popular way to write these days.

Hersheys should not be packaging something that resembles a drug. If it's still on store shelves the price will go up fairly quickly as people start using it as filler similar to Vitamin B12 going up in the 80's when it was a cut for cocaine. It also puts the wrong image into children's heads. When they see this candy and then drugs on the street they will not be able to differentiate between the two. Dealers already have enough products on the market to pass off as other drugs (I saw sugar somewhere on this board earlier and yes it can be passed off as cocaine to someone who has never tried it) and they really don't need the help of Hersheys to make their job even easier. simulating a product that looks like a drug that children buy (similar to the bubble gum cigars that are currently on the market which make smoking fun) will only make the problem worse.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Your argument is completey false and has no basis in reality

[purplehaze]

Fuckem, grow up and be an adult, its candy, this is stupid.

"Officer Tracy Brooks, Missouri's colleague in the EAP, brought some home to show his wife, Judge Dumas Brooks."

Glad to see there buying them, the money spends the same for whatever reason you buy them. It's candy, you can make anything out to be bad if you have the mindset these fucktards have.

I guess she crys when she see's sugar, flour and alot of other cooking products.

I guess Japanese maples should be outlawed too by this standard.

This is a disgrace, just do your fucking job and stop being a dick about life and making everything about drug's. You really think the candy manufactors were thinking about crack when they came up with his idea? Complete morons.

Sorry if my opinion is to strong, not all narcotics agents are dicks but obviously the ones involved in this report were working at mcdonalds prior to being in the "FUCKING FORCE BABY"

LMAO

[crackcityrocker]

What if a drug dealer mixed some in with real street drugs and sold them to an unsuspecting buyer - who retaliated with a spray of bullets?

why would a dealer do that? there are plenty of things they can cut drugs with that would be alot less obvious than some kind of mint.

What if a teenager took them to school? Even though each pouch has a small Ice Breakers logo on it, how would a street-naive teacher differentiate it from drug packets, which are also sometimes labeled by their distributors?

unless kids were to break them open and start snorting mints off their desks, i dont see why a teacher would be alarmed if she saw one of these. if a teacher confiscated it, for some reason i think it would be easy enough to prove it isnt a drug.

What if children use them and subsequently stumble upon and ingest a real bag of drugs, thinking they're mints, she said?

...i think that would probably the fault of whoever left a bag of drugs laying around for a kid to find. not hersheys.

And the judge imagined another scenario: the undermining of drug busts made on visual observation of money changing hands for colored packets of powder.

"This potentially could give them a legal out," said Dumas Brooks.

how could this possibly give someone a legal out if they were caught dealing drugs? once confiscated, i would imagine the contents of the baggie would be tested to find out what it is, therefore the person would not be able to say "but it was just mints!" and get out scott free. the same reason someone couldnt say "but it was just sugar!" and get out of a charge.

[0utrider]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325235,00.html

The Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution (see below) asking Hershey, Inc. to remove and repackage a candy that officers say looks like crack cocaine.

Specifically, public officials and police officers say packaging of "Ice Breakers Pacs," a breath mint, looks like the tiny bags used to sell illegal drugs.

The nickle-sized bags that dissolve in your mouth went on sale last month.

Philadelphia police officers take it a step further, saying the bags glorify the drug trade.

Hershey officials say they welcome the input.

They also released this statement regarding the packaging of its mint product:

"We value feedback from all sources, including the city council, the community and our consumers, and we continually evaluate all of our products. In the case of Ice Breakers PACS, the general public clearly recognizes that this is an innovative breath mint. The product is labeled with product information and the packaging identifies it as an Ice Breakers item. Each individual pouch is marked with the Ice Breakers logo for easy identification."
-Kirk Saville, Hershey spokesman

Philadelphia City council Resolution:

Denouncing the Hershey Company for their marketing and distribution of Ice Breaker Pacs and urging the company to immediately remove the product and repackage the product in a more responsible manner
WHEREAS, Hershey's has begun to market and distribute Ice Break Pacs, a breath mint sold in dissolvable pouches in blue or orange that looks like sealed bags of cocaine, crack or heroin sold in many American cities and; and
WHEREAS, Family Court Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty, Judge Lori Dumas Brooks, and veterans in the Philadelphia Police Department narcotics unit including Chief Inspector William Blackburn were shocked and surprised by the drug-like pouches; and
WHEREAS, Hershey's does not take any responsibility for the packaging and distribution of the product claiming that feedback from consumers has been positive; and
WHEREAS, Police officers have conjured up potentially deadly scenarios the look-alike pouches could create including children confusing real drugs for the mints or a drug dealer mixing the mints in with real drugs possibly causing deadly retaliation; and
WHEREAS, Police officers, community groups and those who have lost loved ones to drugs are considering protesting the Hershey Company and urging the company to remove the product from the shelves; and
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, urge the Hershey Company to immediately remove Ice Break Pacs from the market; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that an engrossed copy of this resolution be sent to David J. West, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hershey Company.

COUNCILMAN JUAN F. RAMOS

[Sitbcknchill]

Figured I would go ahead and add a picture.

But you might want to get them while you can because they have infact stopped production of them because of this.

IceBreakersPacsAP_468x362.jpg

[El Calico Loco]

Once again, the fearful savage holds back progress by beating his chest in rage.


ECL
(Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.)

[Paracelsus]

I'll try to acquire these to keep for historical interest. Since production is being ceased but nothing is being recalled, chances are that these will be out on the market for some more time.

[cra$h]

such a contraversy, while the energy drink CALLED COCAINE stayed on the market for a while..... i could see why people dont like the concept of "crack" mints, but if you dont want your kids exposed to that, you keep them from buying it. if a kid wants to brag about fake crack, let him.

[fnord]

What if, what if. What if people get hit by cars and die? We'd better lower the speed limit to 10mph. If it saves even one life, it's worth it.

Screw that,just outlaw cars. Problem solved.

[Metomni]

SWIM recently picked these up after seeing this thread on here thinking it would be good to keep the cool looking packages. He thinks it's worth noting that these are possibly the best mints he has ever had and they're recalling them for the packaging?!?! UGH!!!

They don't even really look bad, they're just a plastic casing that slides open instead of pops off. The packaging the mint flavor is in is brilliant, it's also what is under speculation, but it allows for the flavor to be instant and intense.

It's a pity they're being removed from public sales.

[x cynic x]

And to think that a dealer would honestly go through the time to seal their products perfectly on all sides. Where is the controversy coming from?

[Paracelsus]

From a police department whose people are trained to spot drugs in anything they see.

I wasn't able to find any of these in stores, by the way.

[Metomni]

Para - I found mine at the check out line in a Wal-Mart, so you might want to look there. I haven't seen them anywhere else, but I have seen them at several different Wal-Mart's. They're like 2 bucks, so rather pricey for what you're getting, but pretty spiffy.

[Paracelsus]

Minor flaw: few persons would recognize the similarity of such a product with a baggie of drugs, and no reasonable person would even think of insinuating that Hershey's had such a similarity in mind and deliberately designed the product to look like drugs. A couple of people in the justice system got the frenzy started. This isn't surprising, as people whose job is about drugs tend to see drugs in a lot of things, for example here.

[ShawnD]

Psychologist: What do you see in this picture? *random ink pattern*
Patient: I see 4 women having group sex
Psychologist: I think you are obsessed with sex.
Patient: Me? You're the one with all the dirty pictures.

Seems like the people reacting to this are trying to pass blame for their own obsession with drugs. What really smacks of retardation is this statement:
"Who in the world thought of that, and how did it get approved?"
Uh I don't know, maybe Hershey doesn't hire people who do illegal drugs? How the hell are they supposed to know what drug packaging looks like? Does every company need to consult with the police before making a new product, just to make sure it doesn't look like something?

Also, I had no idea that drug dealers had exclusive rights to heat-sealed packaging. I should probably stop vacuum sealing my leftovers since it uses a heat seal, and I'll throw away all slide-top plastic containers I find.

[Lobsang]

The bottom line is that the company has every damn right to package their product any way they want. Even if the intentially make it look like a street drug. As long as it is labled correctly. This is just an example of the government chipping away more rights.

[Matt The Funk]

These mints are awesome. Really, cool, weird sensation.