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Food & Drink

How to sell Necco Wafers? Tell people they're going away for good

Tribune-Review | Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 9:54 a.m.
Sales of Necco Wafers are spiking, after a recent announcement that the Boston-based company could be folding.
npr.com
Sales of Necco Wafers are spiking, after a recent announcement that the Boston-based company could be folding.

If BuzzFeed is right in calling Necco Wafers "everyone's least favorite Halloween candy," why are sales suddenly skyrocketing?

After the Boston-based company announced in March that a shutdown is looming, sales spiked.

March sales figures were up 63 percent from the March averages of 2008-17, says candystore.com.

But, up 63 percent from what?

It's hard to imagine those dusty little disks were flying off the shelves before the announcement. Who even buys them?

They've been around since 1847, but still they don't get a lot of love.

They show up at Halloween, but even then they seem to come out of a musty old stash with the peanut butter kisses and circus peanuts.

Although Necco Wafers do have their fans.

But, like Joni Mitchell said, sometimes you don't know what you've got till it's gone — so better to hoard than to go without.

Or, conspiracy theorists, is it all just a clever marketing ploy?

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.

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