Reese’s is putting pretzels in peanut butter cups, because ‘the hell with it, it’s 2020’

Reese’s new peanut butter cups are filled with pretzels. The Hershey’s candy brand, which launched “breakfast cakes” last month, introduced the newest addition with the slogan: “The hell with it. It’s 2020.”

The candy giant is nervous about Halloween this year. Halloween typically accounts for 10% of Hershey’s annual sales, but the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to put a damper on trick-or-treating this year. Now the company is shifting its strategy for what is typically its biggest season. That means less Halloween-focused packaging and more family-sized packs, as many Americans gear up to celebrate at home.

The big cups with pretzels are set to hit stores in November, and the mini cups with pretzels won’t be available until January 2021.

“Let’s face it, we’re all feeling a little bit salty this year,” Ian Norton, Reese’s senior director, said in a statement. “In true Reese’s fashion, we channeled our feelings into sweet and salty deliciousness with new Reese’s Big Cups with Pretzels.”

Reese’s will also release Big Cups with Chips in March 2021, but those will only be available for a limited time. The Reese’s with pretzels, however, are permanent additions to the candy brand’s lineup.

Hershey, like other confectioners, relies on impulse purchases to drive sales. But people are shopping less during the pandemic, making new and somewhat outrageous candy combinations more important than ever for junk food companies.

That’s why there are seemingly two dozen flavors of M&Ms in the candy aisle and a new variety of Lay’s potato chips every month.