Move over Peter, and make room for Penny and Priscilla.
Peter’s male domination of the Easter candy counter is coming to an end with the introduction of the feminine side of this popular Easter sweet treat.
In all my years of partaking of the delights of the Allan Candy Co. I have never once considered the gender of the chocolate rabbit. It was a rabbit, it was chocolate and it was a treat enjoyed over the period of Easter.
I wonder how many other bunny eaters were concerned with the gender of the rabbit, and except for perhaps the name on the box, why would they wonder?
When did chocolate rabbits become a feminist concern? When did chocolate rabbits enter the realm of gender equity?
The answers to those questions are held within the company headquarters of the Allan Candy folks but there must have been either a consumer campaign, or someone in the board room had a moment of clarity regarding women’s issues and decided a feminine chocolate product was necessary.
Hence the introduction of the feminine version of the bunny — Mrs. Solid and Mrs. Fluffy — to join Mr. Solid, Mr. Fluffy and other assorted male-named characters.
“It’s creating more of a familial feel. And becoming more socially responsible,” says Steve Diakowsky, the chief executive officer of the company.
In my humble opinion, the company should have started being socially responsible decades ago when it eliminated one-half of the solid rabbit so that buyers were in fact only getting half the chocolate for the same or higher prices.
Surely others remember those rabbits — they were indeed solid and they had a back and a front. Then suddenly the company brought out the one-dimensional rabbit, with it planted into a fitted container inside the box. It wasn’t until the box was opened on Easter morning that children became aware they were missing part of a rabbit.
While it might have been a fiscally-responsible move on the part of the manufacturer, it produced some suspicion as to how much a child could trust an adult candy company. As years passed, this one-sided rabbit became the accepted version by children who knew no better.
But now social responsibility in the manufacture of chocolate bunnies takes a new form — a feminine form — although there’s no word if the boy and girl bunnies will have significant features to distinguish one from the other.
The company does say the proportions of the rabbits will be more even, with no more small ears and head on a giant torso and bunnies will now be face forward rather than in profile.
But wait, there’s more. Some rabbits will be displaced by raccoons and skunks, and some will even be listening to IPods.
A less obvious change will be the candy’s composition — less sugar, smaller particles, more cocoa butter and a shift in vanilla content.
So there you have it: watch a candy counter near you for Mrs. Solid and Mrs. Fluffy beside Mr. Solid and Mr. Fluffy and some skunk listening to an IPod.
The next question is this: where are the spinster bunnies, the Miss Solid and the Ms. Fluffy? Surely inclusion of the non-married bunny would also show social responsibility.
Life as a chocolate bunny is just so complicated in 2010.
Joyce Walter can be reached at 691-1259.
