Map Of Each State's Favorite Valentine's Day Candy Is One Big Chocolatey Head-Scratcher
Valentine's Day candy is a fickle combination of old standbys, classics we thought we could count on, triumphant returns, and odd experimentations. Amidst this annual inundation, it can be easier to stick with what we know. And that might be part of what's informing the 2020 edition of CandyStore.com's annual list of the most popular Valentine's Day candies by state, which compiled 12 years and 50 states' worth of sales data into one map:
Needless to say, these aren't very sexy or exciting results. As CandyStore.com notes, conversation heart candies were dethroned across several states as the most popular purchase because of Necco's halt on production last year. This allowed a number of subpar options to skew the data. M&Ms, for example, are the very essence of a year-round candy—aha, but M&Ms has found a way to make these boring little chocolates absolutely irresistible for Valentine's Day: tiny messages! Kicking Necco while it's down. Diabolical. As the sales figures show, the ploy is working, and the candy is climbing the charts.
Chocolate roses are rarely delicious, their hollow petals often bordering on cardboardy. But significant others in Wyoming and Oregon seem to understand that this "romantic" "holiday" calls for something special, or at the very least something that you can't just pick up at a gas station any other day of the year. Hence, edible bouquets. Similarly, the top choice across the most states turns out to be the heart-shaped box of chocolates. But which box are people buying the most? All brands are not created equal, of course. Are we talking Russell Stover? Fannie May? See's? Godiva, for god's sake?
Maybe by this time next year, everyone will be handing their loved ones a pack of Dunkaroos.