US consumers will find the Emoji Bars in six different packaging designs and two sizes – the standard 1.55oz bar and the 0.45oz ‘snack size’ – intended to be ‘collected and shared,’ the Pennsylvania-based company announced.
What's up with emoji?
- A nonprofit called The Unicode Consortium manages emoji, more broadly known as ‘picture characters.’ Unicode developed the encoding standard that established uniformity of digital characters across devices around the world.
- The actual images consumers see on their mobile phone, however, are designed by companies like Apple or Microsoft.
- There are 1,281 emojis currently in service.
- Anyone can submit a proposal to Unicode Emoji for consideration of a new character.
- According to EmojiTracker.com, which tracks emoji use on Twitter in real-time, the laughing-crying emoji is the most popular choice.
“Our classic Hershey’s bars were made to be shared with others,” said Kriston Ohm, senior manager for the Hershey’s brand. “By adding an emoji design to each pip of chocolate, we hope that parents and kids are inspired to share a chocolate emoji and make a connection with someone new.”
The bar’s labels show off a variation of the emoji smiley face. Inside the wrapper, the chocolate itself is imprinted with a single emoji – from those same faces to a thumbs-up, a peace sign, or the laughing ghost.
Consumer research focused on parents and kids helped Hershey select the select the 25 emojis. Nearly nine of 10 kids said they would ‘want to share’ an Emoji Bar with others, according to a 2018 BTS optimization research report.
The limited-edition bars (RRP $0.99 each, or $4.09 for a 9.45oz bag of snack size) will hit US stores this summer, leading into the back-to-school season, Hershey said.
Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, the chocolate maker has been following what it calls a ‘Hershey’s First’ approach to call attention to its flagship brand in international markets. Simultaneously, it has pursued a snacking mentality, notably in acquiring Amplify Snack Brands, parent to SkinnyPop and Pirate's Booty popcorn as well as Krave jerky and Paqui tortilla chips.
Net sales in 2018 increased 3.7% to $7.8bn, according to the company’s annual financial report.
