Trick-or-Treaters make their way back home, trudging through the grass with their arms laden with hoarded candy, a signal to the end of a successful Halloween night. Amidst those satisfied trick-or-treaters are my brother, my neighbor, and I, whispering plans to trade candy amongst ourselves. After trading bars of chocolate, sticks of lollipops, and wads of gum, it is then that I make my final offer: a king-size bag of Skittles. I am met with incredulous looks and gasps from my brother and neighbor, each demanding why I would trade such a delectable, king-size pack of candy. Quite frankly, I could care less for Skittles and I find them to be a source of false advertisement, with its claim of ‘original fruit’ spread in yellow text across the red face of the rectangular package and its motto “Taste the Rainbow.” When looking at the listed ingredients in Skittles, there isn’t any mention of fruit and instead there are all sorts of sugars, acids, and artificial flavors in place of fruit. On top of the lack of “original fruit”, the motto “Taste the Rainbow” is completely misleading. Not only are there only five colors and flavors in the package, which are not the complete seven colors of the rainbow, but you do not literally taste the rainbow either. Imagine the disappointment of children, believing that Skittles are “bite size candies” filled with pieces of the rainbow, as they open up a fresh package of Skittles, the pungent scent wafting under their noses, and discover the cold reality of an advertisement fraud. The crinkly red package contains no edible rainbows, just five colors that are far from any rainbow. Not only do Skittles embody false advertisement, with its lies of edible rainbows and original fruit, but it lacks creativity in its design as well. Skittles hold a similar shape, size, and decoration to M&M’s, a chocolate with a candy coating that was introduced to the candy market much earlier than Skittles. Though both candies are from the same company, you would think there would be a different marketing scheme with such a contrasting candy. Skittles are completely different from M&M’s (chewy tangy centers are not the same as chocolate centers) and only seem to copy off the candy coated chocolate confectionaries. The only difference between the two is the choice in colors and letter stamping, a sad situation for a child who cannot read and wants to eat one candy over the other. Not only do Skittles lack the creativity in having an original candy design, but they also lack the creativity to develop two other flavors to represent the two missing colors of the rainbow: blue and indigo.
Skittles also lack taste, a sad point to add to the growing list of faults, having only five flavors consisting of lime, grape, lemon, orange, and strawberry. There aren’t many flavors to choose from or variety between the flavors (lemon, lime and orange flavors taste similar and are all citrus fruits) and on top of that they aren’t very flavorsome or highly delectable. Imagine eating the flavors as raw fruits. Grape, orange, and strawberry flavors are higher up on the delectable scale of Skittles as compared to lemon and lime. You would more likely eat juicy grapes, succulent oranges, and refreshing strawberries rather than an acidic lemon or sour lime. The disappointment in taste is made evident upon the first opening of the crinkly red wrapping. The pungent mix of smells wafts towards the nose and you can’t breathe in the scent too long before needing to break away from the strong stench. The dizzying stench of the rainbow isn’t much different from its less than delectable taste.
Skittles are the embodiment of all lies and tastes that are disappointing in the candy world. From its false advertising to its lack of creativity to its lack of variety or delectableness of taste, Skittles are the epitome of disgusting disappointment.
At the end of the Halloween evening, I gladly trade and hand over my king-size pack of Skittles, having expressed my extreme disgust towards the repulsive candy, to my still incredulous brother and neighbor in exchange for some other more appetizing, more deserving confectionary of my palate.