Candy by Samira Kawash

Author:Samira Kawash
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Faber and Faber, Inc.

Candy Is Delicious Food—Enjoy Some Every Day

Otto Schnering, the man who had made Baby Ruth one of the biggest-selling candy bars ever, was an obvious choice to lead the candy industry in its next big advertising push. He was appointed chairman of the NCA’s merchandising and advertising committee in 1937 and assigned the task of figuring out how to boost sales without incurring too much expense. This called for a more creative approach than the typical Madison Avenue buy-up of billboards and magazine pages. The inspiration came from an unlikely place: flowers. The Society of American Florists had increased sales dramatically with the use of a simple slogan: “Say It With Flowers.” Why not, Schnering mused, figure out a way to make people say it with candy? A slogan could do on the cheap what would otherwise cost thousands of dollars. Schnering explained his strategy: “If we could pack a strong message into a few words and then get those words before the public on a million window transfers and on millions of mailing pieces, we would soon have more people doing more thinking about candy. And if we could do that, we knew it would mean more sales for everyone in the business.”6

Schnering’s new slogan “Candy Is Delicious Food—Enjoy Some Every Day” hit every base: the pleasure of candy, the reinforcement of candy as a food, and the utility of candy in the everyday diet. But there was only so much a low-budget campaign of window decals and store posters could accomplish—he needed something bigger.

In April 1938, Schnering announced that a dramatic expansion of the NCA’s publicity campaign would be financed by the Corn Products Refining Company, “one of the leading processors of ingredients for candy.”7 He described the new windfall as “the most wonderful thing that could have happened to the [candy] industry,” which would “enable us to broaden and intensify the campaign in a manner we never dreamed possible.” Best of all, there were no strings attached to the money. In fact, Corn Products was said to be “quite content to remain in the background.”8 To the public, the NCA campaign would appear to be entirely the work of candy interests. It was a complete reversal from the 1890s, when candy makers and corn refiners publicly joined forces to advocate calling “glucose” by the more reassuring name of “corn syrup.” This time, corn would be candy’s little secret.

The Corn Products Refining Company had been formed in 1906 as a merger of leading U.S. corn refiners. The company had gone on to create Argo laundry starch, Karo corn syrup, and Mazola corn oil, and in 1929 it patented a crystalline form of glucose from corn called dextrose.9 Corn Product’s interest in candy was obvious: candy makers were a significant market for corn syrup, cornstarch, and, increasingly, dextrose.

Corn syrup was a liquid compound of glucose and salts—it had important uses in candy making, but also limitations. Dextrose significantly expanded the potential uses of corn sugar in candy making. It

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