Hershey’s sells more than $500 million worth of Reese’s peanut butter cups annually. I like to think that I am at least partly responsible for helping to boost their sales and make them the chocolate giant that they are today.
You see, it all started in middle school with a fundraiser that involved selling Reese’s peanut butter cups. I was not the least bit interested in selling them until I found out that the top prize was a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed road bike. There were some other prizes as well but I didn’t care about those. I was totally and completely fixated on the bicycle.
I remember racing home from school that first day with a case of Reese’s peanut butter cups and a flyer. The flyer had a picture of the bike at the top. I ran to my room and taped the flyer to my wall so I could see it every day. Then I went out after dinner and sold every single peanut butter cup in the box that very night.
I told my parents that I intended to sell enough candy to win the bicycle. They looked at me dubiously. The next day, I came home with two cases of peanut butter cups and once again, after dinner, I started my candy campaign. Slowly and methodically I walked up and down each street in our neighborhood. I was careful to keep track of who was not home so I could go back later, not wanting to miss a single sale.
This process went on for a while until I had exhausted all the homes within walking distance. This did not dissuade me, however, as I lugged home even more cases of peanut butter cups and begged my mother to drive me around so I could sell them.
Case after case of peanut butter cups entered our home. My mother implored me to stop. “Haven’t you sold enough?” she would grumble as we loaded the candy into the car. How could I possibly know? I needed to be sure that the bicycle would be mine. I had to sell as many candy bars as I possibly could.
Each night, I coerced my mother into trekking me across town. I begged. I pleaded. I offered her free Reece’s cups. We went to every neighborhood we could find. We even stopped at a local retirement community. I figured all the sweet grandparents would be happy to see me. What I didn’t figure was that many of them were on strict diets that did not allow sweets. Actually, many of them were rather grumpy. I assumed this was because of the no-sugar thing.
A few of them, however, looked greedily at my box of candy when they opened their doors. Their eyes would grow wide at first and then narrow, shifting from side to side, finally landing suspiciously on me. They would quickly lick their lips and ask for a half dozen or so. “You aren’t going to tell anyone about this, are you?” they would inquire ominously. I wasn’t even sure who I would tell but I would nod discreetly to let them know that their secret was safe with me.
We were quickly approaching the contest deadline when I had the grand idea to sell candy in Indiana. This is when my mother finally drew the line. Apparently that line was at the state line! By that time though I had sold quite a few cases of peanut butter cups. I had peddled them all over Ohio. Heck, we had probably eaten a whole case ourselves as they sat stacked en masse on the kitchen counter.
In those last couple of days, I lay in bed wondering if I had done enough, sold enough, tried hard enough. What if I came close but lost by one case? I was in agony waiting to find out who had won. I would envision myself riding my new bicycle. Then I would envision someone else riding the bicycle that should have been mine.
A few days later at school, the announcement finally came. I fidgeted at my desk as the usual announcements about milk money and bus changes droned over the loudspeaker. And then it was time.
“We want to thank everyone who participated in the fundraiser. The winner of the 10 lb. Hershey bar is…..” And then they announced my name. Everyone in my homeroom class exploded into cheers of excitement. I was completely deflated. I had totally forgotten that the extra-large Hershey bar was a prize in the contest. I mean, a 10 lb. Hershey bar is pretty cool, but it’s not as cool as a bike.
I barely heard the second announcement over the ruckus of the classroom. “And the grand prize winner of the Schwinn 10 speed is…..” Once again, they announced my name. I was shocked and overwhelmed with excitement.
I rode my new bike home from school that day. My parents were pretty excited too, but I think they were just glad that the whole event was finally over. I ended up selling 13 cases of candy that year. It was considerably more than I needed to win. The runner up sold 7 cases. I guess I could have stopped selling sooner but, of course, there was no way to know that. I think it was a pretty good life lesson.
I do know that my younger sister wanted to sell Reece’s cups the next year. If I remember correctly, my parents just bought her a bike instead.
Hey, what can I say, some endings have life lessons, some don’t.
