Candy giant Hershey Co. has a crisis arising from the grandson of the inventor of one of its biggest brands, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The scion accuses the company of a switcheroo on the ingredients, which he says no longer include milk chocolate. Hershey has been trying to shoo away the gadfly.

Brad Reese, grandson of inventor H. B. Reese, has made it his duty to be a brand watchdog even though the family sold Reese’s to Hershey in 1963. The current attention stems from his open letter to Hershey Manager of Corporate Brand and Editorial Todd Scott that he posted on LinkedIn Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day!). Reese accuses Hershey of replacing “Milk Chocolate with compound coatings and Peanut Butter with peanut-butter-style crèmes across multiple REESE’S products.”

“My grandfather built Reese’s on a simple, enduring architecture: milk chocolate + peanut butter,” he writes.

The open letter went viral after YouTuber MrBeast, who makes his own Feastables Peanut Butter Cups, highlighted it on his X account that has 34 million followers, according to a Feb. 28 profile of Reese, reportedly age 70, in The Wall Street Journal (“He’s Reese’s Biggest Advocate — and Hershey’s Biggest Headache”).

‘Not Edible’

This garnered a lot of coverage, including in the Associated Press, USA Today, the New York Post and People. Reese told the AP he threw away a bag of Reese’s Mini Hearts, made for Valentine’s Day, because of the ingredients switch. “It was not edible,” he said.

A lot of people are opining in their social-media comments that they suspected the ingredients had been changed, and now they feel they have proof. That’s not something the company could ignore.

Hershey’s main response seems to be a statement sent to many media outlets. From People’s article:

“Our iconic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been; starting with roasting fresh peanuts to make our unique, one-of-a-kind peanut butter that is then combined with milk chocolate.

“As we’ve grown and expanded the Reese’s product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reese’s fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese’s unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter.”

Main Criticisms

So, Hershey invokes some facts here (always good in crisis communications) but also seems to want it both ways: Nothing has changed, but sometimes things change. Part of the confusion may stem from Brad Reese’s main criticisms being about, according to some reporting, seasonal items rather than the mainstay Peanut Butter Cups. It’s unclear.

The development has exposed a rift between Reese and a cousin whose daughter works for Hershey, according to the New York Post. The cousin accused Reese of creating “a nightmare” for the family and company and said Hershey’s legal department has in the past asked him to “cease and desist” from his critiques.

But it seems Reese isn’t going away and Hershey will have to continue to respond.

Photo Credit: PRCG

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