Orange Creme Hershey's Kisses

Perhaps the oddest variations on the recent blitz of alternate-flavor Hershey's Kisses are the ones that, well, aren't chocolate. The orange creme variety has apparently been around for a couple years, but it only seems to pop up at Easter time, so this year was the first time I noticed its existence.

Last Halloween's "candy corn" flavor and the orange creme flavor have a lot in common. They taste fine, if more than a little ersatz, but their raison d'être is confusing if not entirely nonexistent. Why would you eat candy corn-flavored Hershey's Kisses when you could just eat candy corn? And why would you really want to eat Hershey's Kisses that taste like a Creamsicle when you could just eat a Creamsicle?

I don't have an answer to either question other than "You wouldn't, really." It doesn't help matters that these Kisses aren't made out of chocolate. (Technically I guess they're made out of white chocolate. But even speaking as someone who likes white chocolate well enough, it's about as much "chocolate" as soy milk is "milk.") Chocolate is the only ingredient of the standard Hershey's Kiss, which is easily one of the five most famous candy products in America. Can you really brand something with the same name when it doesn't contain that ingredient? Isn't this like Coca-Cola rebranding Sprite as "Coke Citrus"?

Anyway. I won't say these aren't edible, but I really don't see the point in buying them unless you're looking to bulk up someone's Easter basket. The lack of any true chocolate will prove unsatisfying for most people, and I'm not sure even fans of orange will like the flavor, always hanging just on the acceptable side of the "vaguely unpleasant" border. If this is the taste you want, do yourself a favor and just eat a Creamsicle.