Earlier this month, a product review website called Influenster (we’re guessing after “influence” and not “Influenza” but you never know) surveyed 40,000 of its users on their favorite Halloween candies. Results were then tallied and split up by respondent’s place of residence to come up with a big list of “America’s favorite Halloween candy by state in 2015.”
What did Pennsylvania end up with? Swedish Fish.
The Influenster results were picked up by plenty of reputable media outlets, but the idea that Pa. is head over heels for a gummy candy in the shape of seafood doesn’t really jibe with national trends. Across the nation, top-selling candies this year were all either chocolate or gum, with M&Ms at the pinnacle ($673.2 million in sales), trailed by former No. 1 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups ($516.5 million).
Maybe Pittsburgh and Pennsyltucky candy fans are sweet on Swedish Fish, but with such a rich history in chocolate candies (Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews, Whitman’s, Wilbur Buds, etc.) it seems unlikely to be the true favorite in Philadelphia proper.
For a look at Philly’s preferences directly, we had to turn to Peapod. The grocery delivery service pulled data on the most popular fall candies ordered through its website and ranked the top 10 in several major cities.
Whether or not kids actually eat it, candy corn had a great showing in many metropolitan areas, including coming in at the top slot in Indianapolis. Philly had it at No. 3, Chicago ranked it fourth and DC had it fifth (although it didn’t rank at all in NYC). More to the WTF-Swedish-Fish point, candy corn was the only non-chocolate treat to show up on any city’s list.
So what candy does Philly actually love to eat (or buy) for Halloween? Here’s Peapod’s full list, in order of popularity:
- Hershey’s Kit Kat Candy Bars Snack-Size
- Milky Way Bars Fun Size
- Brach’s Candy Corn
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars
- Snickers Candy Bars Fun-Size
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Snack Size
- 3 Musketeers Bars Fun Size
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Pack A Snack
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars Fun Size
- Hershey’s Miniatures Assorted Family Bag
