An Open Letter To The Hershey Company

Dear Hershey Company,

I love York Peppermint Patties. I love them not only as a candy consumer, but as a crafter. You see, crafty peeps such as myself purchase York Peppermint Patties by the boatload at this time of the year. Why? Please allow me to demonstrate.

Here are a few photos from last year at this time. Aren't these cute?

That photo above is the front, and the next one is the back:

The compact little circles surround ... you guessed it: York Peppermint Patties. See how nicely they stack:

This is an important feature for space-challenged crafters, such as myself, as these nice little stacks of mints can be neatly packaged into a small container and transported to craft shows where they can be sold. (Read: "free advertising".)

They have also been made into Christmas ornaments (no photo, sorry.) The same decorating as above would be done, only with Christmas papers, of course. Then a ribbon would be tied around the nice, round mint body and it could be hung from a tree. Perfect. These have always been a huge hit at my holiday craft shows.

This year, what did I find? I found that you have repackaged your precious York Peppermint Patties. That's not so bad, as I know we all need to find new and less-expensive ways to handle our businesses. However, the packaging is no longer round! Just LOOK at this:

HOW are we supposed to deal with that ... that ... THING on the right?! Sigh.

I tried. I really did. This is what came out:

Do you SEE all that packaging peeking out from under my circle of card stock? A circle, I might add, that is way larger than the one I used last year, even though the actual patty itself is smaller. And yes, I put glue dots under the package flaps in an attempt to contain them.

Here's the back:

It is UGLY. It does not elicit the same "OMG, it's a Peppermint Patty" reaction because you can see the thing sticking out! This is just not right.

There are tens of thousands of crafters all over this country that mourn the loss of the round York Peppermint Patty packaging. Several of my fellow crafters have informed me that some of the "other" brands are still round. I don't care for the "other" brands, but you know what? This is my livelihood. I'm not sure what I'd do without my little decorated peppermint patties for the next three months. Several people have offered to buy me some of the "other" brands, and if I find I can't deal with the York brand's new packaging, I might have to take them up on it.

It's sad. So sad. We've had such a long and wonderful relationship. I fear it will end soon, though. It's been nice.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
A Devastated Crafter

PS: Excuse me, I feel the need to weep.