World Candies.
185 30th Street
Brooklyn NY 11232
Current products: Stallion, Victory, Lucky Lights, Target, Kings, Round Up, Popeye, Tom & Jerry, Spiderman, Flintstones, Hulk, X-Men, Candy Cigar
Discontinued products: The Beatles Yeah Yeah Candy Sticks, Camel, Cool, Kent, L&M, L&N, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Mustang, Pall Mall, Pell Mell, Salem, Tareyton, Terryton, Viceray, Virgina Slams, Winston, Monsters
World's candy cigarette tips are daubed in red food coloring to simulate a lit end and feature a tax stamp (the Target brand also features faux red cellophane!). World also has bubble gum versions of some of the cigarette brands (the wax paper wrapping simulates a filtered cigarette), not sure if it's a change in either direction or an extension of the product line but seems to be the latter. They seem to be hedging their bets by also cramming their candy cigarettes into non-cigarette related comic book character packaging which has more concentrated markets overseas. Why do I know this junk?
If you are actually interested in consuming candy cigarettes, I cannot recommend the World Candies candy cigarette brand at this time. It is not a taste that appeals to me.
"Mini" candy cigarettes found at the Candy Shoppe, Intervale, New Hampshire by Soosan.
Stallion.
1999.
RJ Reynolds sent a cease-and-desist to World over the Mustang brand; this is what took its place.
But now let's take a closer look at the package.
The bottom of this package is CLEARLY marked so convenience store drones don't stock them in the wrong place. Which would sort of imply that there's some sort of history of that happening, no?
Another thing about World Candies smokes... they're not from around here, really. They're from Slovenia. SLOVENIA. Yep. Don't ask me, this is also on my "candy cigarette to do" list. Maybe a fact-finding mission.
Wherever they're from, they don't taste that good. I mean, TO ME. That's not legally actionable, is it?
Oddly enough, Doc was knocking back some smokes from World Candies while I was editing this page ...
"I feel like having a real cigarette, just to cleanse the palate. HEY! THAT'S how they GETCHA!"
Mustang.
1996.
This is actually the pack of candy cigarettes that started this whole mess. It was donated by Deuce of Clubs, and purchased around 1996.
Please note the strong image connotated by this pack - Mustang, a wild horse. That's right l'il buckaroo, you're a free, untamed spirit, with a glint in your eye. Now "smoke"! Smoke I say!
Victory.
1999.
VICEROY! I mean ... VICTORY!
Lucky Lights.
1999.
LUCKY Strike, Salem LIGHTS, what's the damned difference anyway. I think this is supposed to reel in the scratch-and-lose contingent as well.
Target.
1999.
This really looks like a pack of Lucky Strikes. Probably just a coincidence, though.
Kings.
1999.
And this reminds me of Marlboro, but the whole package is red, so I'm completely thrown off. Definitely candy.
Round Up.
1999.
More western imagery and the ubiquitous tax stamp. This apparently has nothing to do with "Round Up," the nasty "Inject More Useless Middlemen Into Your Life" herbicide.
"Digby, I need a drawing of a macho, macho cowboy for the new 'Round Up' brand!"
"But I don't know how to draw horse feet, boss!"
"Digby ... DIGBY!"
Popeye candy sticks.
1999.
The company is in the United States. The box is printed in Slovenia. The candy is made in the United States. The entire package is sold in Canada. What?
Hey sailor! Your pipe is upside down!
Popeye's flesh lip may scare young children. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE POPEYE FIGURE.
Tom & Jerry candy sticks.
1999.
The company name is not printed on this box, just the UK distributor (Thornycroft). Thornycroft also distributes "Flinstones" candy sticks with pretty much the same information on it, and these packages have a UPC that traces back to World Candies. So ... the manufacturing company is in the United States. The box is printed in Slovenia. The candy is made the United States. The entire package is sold in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and, ummm...
Jordan? Tom & Jerry: big in Jordan.
Spider Man candy sticks.
1999.
I hope Spidey's on his way to the hospital, his right leg looks a little, ummm, wrong.
And since this is an official Spider-Man product from Marvel Comics, they've gone to great pains to remind you by placing an official Spider-Man(R) in the corner. Perhaps the two of them will fight! SPIDER-MAN(R) VS. SPIDER-MAN© JR®™
Also, this package has the same confusing multi-country manifest as Tom & Jerry, for all you trainspotters out there.
World Candies has a bunch of other cartoony brands of candy sticks available in the U.S. ... It's good to hedge your bets, just in case some goof congressman has nothing better to do and wants to regulate your candy product.