Candy and chicken sandwich creators not airheads at all

National Fried Chicken Day, observed on July 6, has already came and went, but I couldn’t not blog about one of the most unique – and maybe even absurd – ways that some people marked the occasion.

Roy Graber Headshot
The Airheads Candy Chicken Sandy (Courtesy Perfetti Van Melle)
The Airheads Candy Chicken Sandy (Courtesy Perfetti Van Melle)

National Fried Chicken Day, observed on July 6, already came and went, but I had to comment about one of the most unique – and maybe even absurd – ways that some people marked the occasion.

Perfetti Van Melle, makers of Airheads candy, came up with the idea to, according to a press release, “enter the chicken sandwich wars with a fried chicken sandwich of its own.”

Called, the “Airheads Candy Chicken Sandy,” the sandwich features a bun made of 100% Airheads candy. With a fusion of foods, including a fried chicken patty, coleslaw, mayonnaise and pickles, it looks – well, I can’t find the words. Let me get back to you on that.

A video corresponds with the press release, with much tongue-in-cheek humor. It counters the critics who are thinking Airheads has never made a sandwich before, by saying before the Great Pyramids of Egypt were built, nobody ever built the Great Pyramids of Egypt before. You can’t argue with that logic.

And in the press release, Craig Cuchra, vice president of marketing for Perfetti Van Melle North America, made a similar analogy.

“Before the moon landing, there was no moon landing. It was the first time anybody ever landed on it. So there’s some precedent of people not ever doing something before and then suddenly doing the thing they never did,” explained Cuchra.

So, I still haven’t quite came up with the words to describe how the sandwich looks. But you’ve got to love that sort of creativity. Had it been me, I’d have probably just slipped a few Airheads candy strips on the sandwich, as you would slices of bacon, and called it good. Well, maybe I wouldn’t have called it good, but I would have said it’s finished.

But the folks at Perfetti Van Melle didn’t stop at that. Instead they made an Airheads bun.

And it looks hilarious. (There, I found the words.) Of course, it won’t taste good to most people. Those are flavors that simply ought not be blended. But you’ve got to admit, with the pretty colors, it is eye catching and attention catching.

I don’t believe this was ever intended to be a serious product, although it was distributed via a food truck. But the company did take the national cultural phenomenon of the chicken sandwich wars, and found a way to get Airheads candy – previously not germane to the chicken sandwich wars – into the conversation.

People who weren’t talking about Airheads now are. And in fact, as I write this, I am considering hopping into my truck and heading to the local convenience store for a pack of Airheads.

Before I ever heard of Airheads candy, the term “airhead,” was a derogatory way to describe someone who wasn’t very intelligent. But for the people at Airheads and Perfetti Van Melle to come up with such a clever marketing schtick, well, that says to me they aren’t airheads at all.

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