This visit to Vegas has been a little bittersweet. That's because Afghanistan Affair man and I talked about coming here when he got back. Bastard. (Oops, did I type that out loud?) I've been to Vegas several times (solo every one) and I've always thought that it would be a great place to go with someone you were into. I mean, let's face it - Vegas IS Sin City. It's sexy. It's fun. It's hot! But, c'est la vie. The hope of finding somebody to share stuff like this with is what keeps me trying.

However, mostly the trip has been sweet. The weather is amazing, the town is packed (Spring Break and March Madness), and I'm here making money. I'm also sitting in my room at the gorgeous Bellagio enjoying the view:






See the mountains? And the water? That's where the fabulous Bellagio Fountains are - I can see them too when the shows on. How cool is this???

Not only is the view great, the Bellagio is decorated for spring and it is gorgeous:

Now that's some yard art I can live with! That globe has water coursing over it and it is breathtaking.

The speech went well (the BP does come in handy!) and I spent the rest of my day checking out the chocolate situation. One of the places mentioned in the LA Times - Chocolate at the Wynn - is closed. Boo!

But M & M World is alive and packed:

Now you have to admire the genius of M & M World. Every time I've ever been in one (Vegas,Times Square) it has been packed. This one is FOUR floors of M & Ms promotional items that people are falling all over each other to buy. People (myself included) are paying to buy marketing materials. I bought a M & M hoodie for $42 and I love it! I will plaster the M & M logo on my body and pay to do it! I love M & Ms and I want the world to know it! There was even a celebrity there:





I wonder if he's single?

You could also make your own color combination of M & Ms choosing from just about every color imaginable. Lowe's paint section ain't got nuthin' on Mars. At $11.99 a pound (good God!) these were flying out the door. Take that, Naked Cowboy.

But, of course, I didn't stop there.

There's a Vosges Store in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. The Forum Shops are my favorite place to shop in Vegas. I love the ceiling that changes as if you were outside. I like the cheesy Greek statuary and the fountains. And they have some very high-end shops, but a good mix of affordable ones too. Oh - I saw the Cher store - she's performing out here. And the stuff was cool - kind of hip and Gothy. But if I met a guy wearing a Cher shirt - that would scare me. But I digress. Vegas does that to me - too many shiny objects.

Love the saying in the window: one taste and my lips were seething. Vosges is just soooo cool.

I was intrigued by this because I didn't really think seething seemed quite right, but number two in the definition is right on:

–verb (used without object)
1.to surge or foam as if boiling. (uh...maybe not, eww)
2.to be in a state of agitation or excitement. (oh, yes)
3.Archaic. to boil.

Oh - the fountains are going right now! WOW! It's dusk and they are lit up - so romantic. Sigh.

Anyway - I went a little crazy in Vosges. But, hey, I passed by all those ritzy designers and I don't gamble - what's a ton of chocolate? And I got something I have been dying to try. One of their cheese truffles:

I didn't have my autopsy tools, so I had to bite this one to show you the inside.

Gotta tell you - didn't like it. Ate one, trashed the other. At $2.75 each this wasn't the cheapest experiment. Hey - I guess I DO gamble! The money that goes to Vegas STAYS in Vegas!

The cheese taste wasn't too overpowering, but it was definitely there and I just don't think the combination does much for either chocolate or cheese. But you may like it. I didn't like the bacon chocolate combo either but some people do. I think these two are fads that will not stand the test of time. But hey, the Circus Peanut is still around, so what do I know?

I also went to Payard and have great shots of the chocolate fountain at Bellagio. But I'll save those for next time. Wish you all were here with me - we would be having a blast!!

The one good thing about being a solo traveler is you can spend as much time as you want doing whatever you want to do. It would be the rare man who would want to hike up and down the strip in search of chocolate. Freedom is a beautiful, beautiful thing. I am so lucky to be here, to have work that I adore, and a shopping bag full of some of the best chocolate in the world. I just need to stop thinking about what I don't have and start celebrating what I do have. Motivation by chocolate!!

Old Time Religion

Okay, as if my mere mention of the dreaded Chick-O-Stick was not enough, look at this great review from my friend Jonny of Candy Gurus:

http://candygurus.blogspot.com/2009/02/chick-o-stick-islander-treat.html

He's in Hawaii right now on vacation, lounging around and blogging about candy. The Recession isn't raining on his parade either! Go Jonny!!

It makes me want to actually eat one of Dem Chicken Bones.

So, what do we learn by this trip to Mast General Store?

Candy is the drug of choice during the recession. Hey, you don't have to believe me! In Tuesday's edition of USA TODAY, the Sr. VP of Marketing at Ghirardelli said, "In hard times, chocolate is comforting and affordable." Uh - actually chocolate is always comforting and affordable. That's the best he's got?

Ghirardelli's 2009 sales are projected to surpass those of 2008. Hershey's also reported strong sales. (Clearly this is a direct result of this blog. And of all the chocolate I give out in my seminars. See, I TOLD you I was bailing out the chocolate makers!!! Who else would buy a $50 5 lb. Hershey bar?)

But I digress.

The bottom line is that we love our candy. It makes us feel better, it's fun, and it's relatively inexpensive. Candy is great.

Another possible lesson is that we might actually return to some simpler pleasures. I don't know about this for sure - we've gone pretty far down the path away from this. Just today I saw people out walking their dogs and all of them were on their cell phones. The dogs interacted way more than the humans did.

But nostalgic candy does remind us of our childhoods - of Halloween, of family holidays, of summer fun. I remember my Dad coming home from work and bringing me Now and Laters. I loved them because I loved my Dad. Well, maybe I loved my Dad because I loved Now and Laters.....but you get the point. Love was involved...in some way. Life was simpler and not so scary then - or so we like to remember.

I just know that candy makes me happy - it did then and it does now. And I am clearly not alone.

Some of these crazy candies show us that if something is really good to four or five people, chances are it's good to many others. You don't have to sell as many Cherry Mash bars (are they really bars? More like Cherry Mash balls) as Snickers bars to still turn a profit. And with the Internet, small candy companies can get the word out and reach a larger market. They have a much tougher time getting into the grocery stores where Hershey and Mars have distribution locked up.

Some of them, however, might want to consider upgrading. I don't have access to their sales figures, but Kits are really sub par. And the process to make all those crappy little squares and wrap them all individually surely can't be completely cheap. Unless they are making a fortune, maybe they could try to get better?

I overheard a teenager in Mast commenting "These are all the candies that have gone out of business!" Obviously this teen was not the sharpest tool in the shed. After all, if the companies had gone out of business who did she think was making the candy? And I don't think that candies go out of business, the companies that make the candies go out of business, but you can appreciate what she was thinking. Maybe if she had texted her thought it would have been more literate.

Just because something has been around a long time doesn't mean it's good. But just because something is new doesn't mean it's good either. If the only competitive advantage you have is that you've been around a long time, you better reconsider. For example - Squirrel Nut Zippers are bad - they look greasy and creepy in their wrappers and don't taste much better. But that's a kicking name and I bet they could do some research, improve the product, and laugh all the way to the bank! That French Taffy was awesome!! But the packaging needs a serious redo. If it looked better and more people tried it, I swear they'd be hooked. The stuff is good! Work what you've got!!

These candies are all a lot like us - not everyone of us can be a Snickers (a Brad Pitt if you will), hogging all the shelf space, making millions, getting all the press. But we can all be great enough to have good friends and a great life. We can still draw a crowd at Mast General Store! Make the most of what makes you unique and special and keep developing those traits or growing in new directions. You'll have your fans - even if you are a Chicken Bone.

You Go (Away), Hershey

There's good marketing and there's outright theft.

Back in September I reviewed Seattle Chocolate's Chick Chocolates (sent to me by my good friend Toby Page). Now these are damn good chocolates - and the flavors vary according to the "Chick." Nutty Chick has nuts, Survivor Chick has raspberry, etc.

Now look at these:

Shame, Hershey, shame! This is a blatant rip-off of a great idea.

These are called You Go! and they have Sporty Girl, Drama Girl, All-American Girl, Social Girl, Fashion Girl, and Funny Girl. (Just call me Vomit Girl.) I am sick that those are the qualities they chose - what about Smart Girl? or Loyal Girl? or Caring Girl? or Geek Girl? Drama, Social and Fashion Girl - please! At least Seattle Chocolates had Survivor Girl (for breast cancer).

And all that is inside are a few Kisses - nothing exciting - all the same. The descriptions of all the girls are also eerily similar. Teenagers will probably snap these up. But the chocolate inside and the concept is a thousand times better as done by Seattle Chocolate - and those target women, not girls.

I think if you steal an idea and make it better, I can get behind it. Hey, after all, there is nothing new under the sun. But if you make it worse? If you didn't get why it was cool in the first place? That's criminal.

You know, Fashion Girl looks a lot like Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham). Maybe we could get her to pull a Naked Cowboy and sue. Where are flaky "celebrities" when you need them? Maybe we could call Lawyer Girl. Or better yet, Judge Girl.

And maybe even Executioner Girl.

You go, Girls.

Valentine Kisses

I do think that Valentine's Day is the perfect holiday for Hershey's Kisses. I mean, is there a candy better suited? And they definitely pulled out all the stops this year!

I already reviewed these, but they really are hard to stop eating! And they are members of the Kiss family:

This is just a packaging issue, but I like it! I bought some for my clients:

They all deserve a Big Kiss! But in the age of political correctness, I sure can't give them a real one.

And how cute are these little guys? They only come with three kisses in them, but they are adorable! I have all three sitting on the top of my computer monitor right now.

Now, I don't know if these are special for Valentine's Day, but they are DELICIOUS!!!! And you guys know raspberry is not my favorite flavor. But I cannot stop eating them - they are really, really good. I say get yourself some of these in case they are only available around Valentine's Day. You deserve it. Actually let's face it - you deserve a lot more. At least get yourself some damn candy!

They could look a little better - but the taste more than makes up for the appearance. It's possible mine melted a bit and that impacted the finish.

Now I know these are not for Valentine's Day, but I just found them, so here we go:

Okay - I was really surprised when I opened these! I was expecting 5 wrapped Kisses. But no! These were unwrapped and look how big they are! I put a normal Kiss in for comparison:

I was most excited about Cheesecake, but Cherry was much better. Cheesecake needed more cheesecake and less chocolate. Not impressed. Don't bother. But Cherry was pretty darn good! (And you guys know cherry is not my favorite. But these rocked!)

This is some really brilliant expansion of the product line. Different flavors, creative packaging - all paying off the iconic Kiss shape. What is important here is not the quality of the chocolate, it's the marketing (in this case distribution) and the shape - we recognize it and we love it.

What's the lesson? You don't have to be the best at everything, maybe not even what others would tell you is the main thing. (In this case the quality of the chocolate.) Figure out what you can be best at - and go for it! Hershey made streetlights for the town in the shape of Kisses. They were fun and easy, unique and joyful. And look where they are today!

This Valentine's Day - fall in love with your joy and uniqueness - therein lies your real power. Big Kisses to all of you for reading!!!!

More Chocolate Politics

I could never run for office. As soon as I go on a rant, new information comes in and I have to reverse the rant. Well, kind of. I still don't like Dagoba Organic Chocolate bars (and that lavender taste still freaks me out). But some cause marketing is okay with me:

I love peanut M & M's and how cute are these? There's the sexy green M & M wearing a pink ribbon and saying "Here's a sweet way to show you care!" And the M & M's are in shades of pink! M & M's Brand is contributing $650,00 to the fight against breast cancer. This is great marketing, a great cause and a great product. It's fabulous!

And look at this:

Double Chocolate Milanos - another product I love. Any gourmands out there are thinking "What a loser! She chooses Peanut M & M's and Milanos over organic chocolate! How common! Heck yes, say I! I once talked a man out of his Milanos on an airplane and I would do it again if given the chance! These cookies rock! (Need I remind you that Pepperidge Farm makes those Chocolate Goldfish?) Now here's an even cooler thing - it says on the bag "The inspiration for Pepperidge Farm's efforts against breast cancer is our founder Margaret Rudkin. In her journey through life Margaret was also touched by breast cancer." Pepperidge Farms is donating $200,000 for the fight. Another great promotion and another great product.

So what lessons are here? (Besides that I should never run for office?) At the end of the day, M & M's and Pepperidge Farms are not only making more money, they are putting some of that money where their mouths are. We can talk about things all day, but in the end all that really matters is what we do. Is there anything you've been talking about but not doing? Some people have magnets on their cars for breast cancer, but they haven't written a check or volunteered or actually done anything for the fight. There are people who have Support the Troops magnets on their cars and walk right by those in uniform in the airport. Do you know how easy it is to say "Thank you"? Talking the talk is great, but walking the walk is better. Take action - it's the only thing that makes a difference. And it doesn't have to just be for a cause, maybe you're always talking about how you should lose weight or exercise or save money or travel more. Stop talking and start walking! Your life is what YOU make it.
And not through what you say, but what you do.

Let M & M's and Milanos inspire you! If a cartoon character can fight breast cancer, think what you can do! (And buy some while you're at it! They're damn good!)

How to Spark a New Idea

What is the difference between creativity and stealing? Is there really anything new under the sun? Snickers latest offering is Snickers Rockin' Nut Road:





I discussed Annabelle Candy's Rocky Road bar in an earlier blog - it's available only out West. Now I'm not saying that Mars STOLE Annabelle's candy bar - the Snickers are different, but..... They do have almonds instead of cashews, and not as much marshmallow, but....

It really is difficult to come up with a completely new idea. Hey, it's getting harder to even come up with a halfway creative idea! Why?

Well, a lot of great ideas have already been developed. We looked at the fact that the world's longest lasting and, in my humble opinion, best, candy bars were invented more than 70 years ago!

I also think we don't take much time to really think - we want new, fabulous ideas and we want them now! I don't think you can always produce a great idea on demand. But if you need a new idea, I might have some ideas for you.

1.) Take a vacation. Now this doesn't have to be long or expensive. It does need to be somewhere you have never been before. New settings get those creative juices flowing.

2.) Read a book or watch a TV show or see a movie - something outside the genre you usually like, that is critically acclaimed. I tend to watch the same type of shows, read the same authors, but when I branch WAY out, I always enjoy it. My favorite find - Mad Men - I watched it because of the reviews and I love it. Critics don't always get it right, but a lot of times they do. When you need new ideas, think about what makes great work great.

3.) Look at some art. You don't have to spend all day in a museum. Just pop in and check out something. Wander around a sculpture garden. I recently took a look at Raleigh's new Shimmer Wall - amazing. And you have to see it for yourself - see how the wind moves each tiny tile. See the wind made solid. Breathtaking. All art is this way - you need to see it for yourself, in person.

4.) Think of crazy new combinations. Things that you like, but that don't immediately seem to have any relationship. (My leadership and chocolate and motivation and chocolate seminars came from this tactic. But alas, so did bacon and chocolate.)

5.) Learn from the candy makers - make it bigger (King size bars), or smaller (M & M's minis), or cover it in chocolate (chocolate covered Oreos) or peanut butter (Whoppers). Can you tweak something you already have or are already doing? If something is working, just tweak it.

6.) And maybe stealing isn't that bad. If Annabelle's Rocky Road is only available out West, hasn't Mars done us a favor by bringing a version of it to us? Is originality overrated? I'd rather have one good Reese's cup than three Bacon Bars. Just because it's new or different doesn't mean it's better. But if people didn't keep making new things, we might never have gotten the Reese's Cup in the first place!!

7.) Change the format or the shape. A book becomes a TV show becomes a comic book, etc. A Reese's Cup becomes:

a regular candy bar. This is like anti-originality. I don't really get this one. I don't like it as much as the cups - not as much peanut butter - more chocolate. I would have fought this tooth and nail if I'd been in the product meeting. I would have said, "I'm okay with trees and hearts and pumpkins, but not bars! Reese's is not a bar, Reese's is a cup! It's all about the peanut butter!! The peanut butter!!" I would have had to be carried from the meeting, screaming "The peanut butter!!! The peanut butter!!" Sadly, I was not consulted.

They didn't ask me about the Bacon Bar either.

World Chocolate Premiere

AAIIEEE! It's been a wild week - I must apologize for the slackness in my blogging. This week was the world premiere of my seminar - Leadership Lessons from the Kings of Chocolate. I have two terrible tendencies that work in combination like Pepsi and Mentos. I tend to procrastinate and I am a perfectionist. So I delayed working on the "Kings" seminar until about two weeks before I had to deliver it. Luckily I had already read a book on Hershey and The Emperors of Chocolate, so I wasn't starting completely from scratch. But this is why I haven't been blogging - it was crunch time!


I spent several days researching on the Web. Now, if you are a perfectionist, this could be never ending. There is always another site, another link, something more. Finally I had to stop researching and start writing!! I'm proud to announce the resulting session was pretty darn good. We talked about Milton Hershey and Forrest Mars, two VERY different leaders. I told the attendees how they built their chocolate empires - and asked them to assess each man's strengths and weaknesses as I went. They did a great job! We then talked about what they could learn from these two men that would help them become better leaders.


There's something about discussing chocolate and the candy business that captures everyone's interest. And what a great way to learn! I had the group sample the limited edition Wildly Cherry M & M's (have you tried these?):







I think if you really like cherry, you might like these. But I was thrilled to find that my informal focus group agreed with me - not an improvement over regular M & M's. I liked one or two, but that was it. I much prefer regular M & M's. Let Skittles do fruit, M & M's should stick with chocolate (remember, just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean you should!).


It's mighty hard to come up with a really successful new candy bar. That's one of the things you find out when researching the American Big Chocolate business. (Like Big Oil and Big Tobacco, there's Big Chocolate - Hershey, Mars, Cadbury, and Nestle.) Most of our best candy bars were invented in the early days - check this out:


1900 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar was invented
1916 Clark bar invented
1921 Mounds bar invented
1923 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups invented
1923 Butterfinger invented
1923 Milky Way invented
1925 Mr. Goodbar invented
1925 Kandy Kake (the original name of the Baby Ruth) invented
1925 Oh Henry! invented
1930 Snickers Bar invented
1932 3 Musketeers Bar invented
1932 PayDay invented
1933 Kit Kat invented
1938 Nestle's Crunch invented
1941 M & M's first sold to the public
1946 Almond Joy invented


You can't blame Mars for trying! New candy can equal big profits - including better shelf position for existing candy. But wow - look how many of the best bars were invented over 50 years ago!! Think they'll be eating Chocolate Bacon Bars 50 years from now? Here's to the Kings of Chocolate - long may they reign!!

Here a Chick, There a Chick, Everywhere a Chick, Chick

Big thanks to my good friend Toby Page for sending me Chick Chocolates from Seattle Chocolates (http://www.seattlechocolates.com/). These were my first Seattle Chocolates and they are good, but it's the packaging that makes them amazing:

The chocolates are individually wrapped and come in these cool, colorful boxes. There are four Chicks:

Strong Chick - milk chocolate with extra calcium

Extreme Chick - dark chocolate with cocoa nibs (this one was really good!)

Nutty Chick - milk chocolate with almonds and toffee (also very good, although I would like more almonds - Nutty Chick wasn't that nutty.)

Survivor Chick - white chocolate and raspberries wrapped in dark chocolate -(this one has become my favorite). 100% of the profits go to fight breast cancer.

All Seattle Chocolates come in gorgeous packaging. The Chick Chocolates are terrific because they are so creative and would make fantastic gifts. However, they are not inexpensive (thank you, Toby!) - what you are really paying for here is the packaging - and it's worth it!!

Speaking of packaging, chocolate makers are pulling out all the stops. Choxie (Target's brand of chocolate) comes in fantastic packages, but it's below average chocolate. Vosges has fantastic packaging for its VERY expensive chocolates, and the chocolates are also fantastic. A home run! But you have to be careful when buying chocolates - pay attention to the sizes. Vosges has come out with some small (1/2 oz. bars) which I was delighted to see. I hate to buy a giant bar and then not like it. BUT these tiny bars are outrageously priced - they wind up being about three times as expensive (per ounce) as the larger bars.

You can already guess the lesson, right? Don't judge a chocolate by its wrapper! Some fabulous wrappers have awful chocolates inside and some boring or even ugly wrappers contain great chocolate. It's so easy to say this and so hard to do it. We think beautiful people have good attributes, and we often don't give unattractive people a chance. We judge people by how they dress and never get to know who they really are. Don't beat yourself up, just try to be more aware - try to see beyond people's wrappers. There might be a Nutty Chick in there you'd really like!

Olympic Chocolate

The Mars Family is brilliant. (I stand by my assessment of the Naked Cowboy as an idiot.) Why do I think the Mars family is brilliant? Long ago Forrest Mars crushed his competitor Milton Hershey by thinking globally. (This was way before global thinking was a given.) Milton was focused on selling his chocolate in the US. Forrest was busy building a global empire. And the company is still at it.

I had no idea what the official chocolate of the Olympics was until I Googled it - of course, it's Snickers (one of my personal favorites). But when you go to the official Snickers web site, there's no mention of this. Know why? Mars didn't do this for sales in America, Mars did this for sales in China. The population of the US? about 301,139,947 The population of China? about 1,321,851,888. That's just a BILLION more people. (That's a helluva lot of Snickers Bars.) And great global business strategy.

I love the Olympics - I went when they were in Atlanta (if you didn't, you missed a fantastic opportunity). I love the patriotism, but also the celebration of all the athletes. The energy of the Olympic Games is hard to describe - it's unlike any sporting event I've ever attended. Maybe it's because the whole world is there - celebrating our best athletes. Maybe it's because the whole idea of the Olympics is so inspiring. This is from the official Olympic website:

FASTER — HIGHER — STRONGER
These three words encourage the athlete to give his or her best during competition.

To better understand the motto, we can compare it with the Olympic creed :

The most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight ;
the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.

Together, the Olympic motto and the creed represent an ideal that Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympics)believed in and promoted as an important life lesson that could be gained from participation in sport and the Olympic Games: that giving one’s best and striving for personal excellence was a worthwhile goal. It is a lesson that can still be applied equally today, not just to athletes but to each one of us.

Here's to Mars for excellence in business; to the Olympics for excellence in sport; and to the rest of us to never stop striving. Let the Games begin!!

Tighty Whities

The Naked Cowboy is an idiot.

Okay, I know this is a revelation to, well, no one, but I feel compelled to restate the obvious. I had the great thrill of standing in Times Square this week, right across the street from M & M world:

That random medal around my neck is my new CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) award. I was in New York for the National Speakers Association Convention where I received the CSP and my friends felt it would be the perfect attire for my picture in front of M & M World. Hey - at least I'm wearing more than underwear!


Look how giant and cool that screen is behind me! If you were a random street performer who worked the street below and they put an M & M up there dressed like you, would you sue them? I repeat, the Naked Cowboy is an idiot.

I still wish they'd put an M & M up there that looked like me - maybe with short dark hair and a giant grin wearing a cheesy medal? How cool would that be?


Now M & M World was packed, but we did pop in for another picture:




Yes, that is yours truly in front of the Blue M & M dressed like Travolta. Think John's losing a lot of sleep over this? If he even knows about it, I bet he would laugh. Lesson - don't take yourself too seriously. If having an M & M in your image bothers you, you need to consider more comfortable underwear.

They have tons of images of the green M & M dressed up as the Statue of Liberty with the slogan "life, liberty and the pursuit of chocolate!" Think the French will sue? Or maybe the descendants of Thomas Jefferson? I think they all realize that imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.


Here are the takeaways:


Don't take yourself too seriously and if you do, wear more than underwear.


If people are imitating you, you obviously fascinate them. Enjoy it. Your 15 minutes will be over all too soon.


M & M's are fun. They are round, brightly colored, and made of chocolate. Could anything be more perfect? Embrace your inner M & M - at http://www.mms.com/us/becomeanmm


And make sure before you pass through this world, you stand in Times Square and celebrate with your friends! Carpe diem! Carpe chocolate!