Too Good To Be True

All shook up for Elvis peanut butter cup

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer 12/08/2006

First, Hershey brought out the special Reese's white chocolate peanut butter cup, the dark chocolate cup, and the twice-as-large Big Cup.
Now comes a cup that could be the biggest of them all: the Limited Edition Elvis Peanut Butter & Banana Creme, inspired by the singer's famous hankering for deep-fried peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches.
The Reese's wrapper will feature the image of the young Elvis - thin, snarling and, crooning into a '50s-style microphone. The candy will be sold in standard, mini and "The King" sizes, beginning in July, according to Hershey.
Timed to the 30th anniversary of Elvis' demise on Aug. 16, the promotion will be supported by a backbeat of contests and prizes that include a trip for two to Graceland, Elvis' home-turned-museum in Memphis.
"I think it's fantastic," says Barbara Lee Rowe, who runs the Kin of Rock and Roll, a hybrid Elvis/Civil War memorabilia store in Gettysburg. "Have you ever had a peanut butter-and-banana sandwich?"
There's no guarantee that putting Elvis' mug on a candy wrapper, or two of his favorite ingredients inside, will drive sales, experts caution.
"Images clearly draw attention, but that doesn't mean they'll push a consumer to actually buy," says professor Barbie Zelizer, who studies pop culture at the University of Pennsylvania. "We never know how images are going to work in conjunction with the products."
In recent years, the $28 billion candy industry has tried to sweeten profits with limited-edition treats. Manufacturers face rabid competition in the form of 2,000 new confections a year and, paradoxically, a public worried about eating healthy and losing weight. Companies like Hershey, which expects sales to fall slightly short of its goal this year, try to entice customers with variations on proven brands.
That's why you've seen six types of Kit Kat bar and inside-out Junior Mints.
But sales have slowed as makers exhaust the obvious white- and dark-chocolate possibilities, says Susan Fussell of the National Confectioners Association. The challenge now, she says, is to mate established products to unexpected flavors.
"This new Elvis is a really good example," she says.
And Elvis, who would have been 72 next month, is a reliable salesman. He earned $42 million in the last year, second only to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain among dead celebs, according to Forbes magazine.
The King's likeness and name isn't only on guitars and teddy bears, it's on everything , even a gun, the Smith & Wesson "Taking Care of Business" .357 Magnum revolver. Perfect for shooting out TV sets.
There are lines of Elvis foods, like Burning Love Hot Sauce and Blue Hawaii Luau Glaze, and wines including Jailhouse Red Merlot and Blue Suede Chardonnay. At Elviscoffee.com you can order bags of All Shook Up Smooth Blend.
For businesses seeking to sell products, Elvis offers two outstanding attributes:
He is enormously popular.
And, well, he's dead.
Nobody has to fret about sales being hurt by footage of an addled, overweight Elvis padding around Graceland in a gold lame bathrobe.
Today, Elvis is who they say he is. And to Hershey, he's a sexy rock-and-roller with a curl in his lip - and a taste for banana creme.

Contact staff writer Jeff Gammage at 610-313-8110 or jgammage@phillynews.com.