22 votes

Eventually you'll get pretend cancer: the bizarre world of candy cigarettes

17 comments

  1. [13]
    Kremor
    Link
    I loved this when I was a child, not because I wanted to look cool or like a grown-up, but because I genuinely loved the cheap sugary chocolate they were made of. They are banned now but it's...

    I loved this when I was a child, not because I wanted to look cool or like a grown-up, but because I genuinely loved the cheap sugary chocolate they were made of. They are banned now but it's still possible to buy them online. I just assume they won't be the same, like most things these days.

    And in case you're curious, my lips haven't touched a cigarette since I was 9 years old.

    13 votes
    1. [6]
      DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      Wait they're chocolate? I've only seen ones that are basically like sugar sticks, like the stick of a Fun dip if that means anything

      Wait they're chocolate? I've only seen ones that are basically like sugar sticks, like the stick of a Fun dip if that means anything

      15 votes
      1. [3]
        xk3
        Link Parent
        Yeah I think @Kremor might be referring to chocolate cigars and not candy cigs (which also should not be confused with licorice pipes) but sure enough the Wikipedia page for candy cigarettes...

        Yeah I think @Kremor might be referring to chocolate cigars and not candy cigs (which also should not be confused with licorice pipes) but sure enough the Wikipedia page for candy cigarettes includes a picture of a tin of Droste brand chocolate cigarettes

        8 votes
        1. PraiseTheSoup
          Link Parent
          Wow, those look so much more legitimately like cigarettes than the chalky misshapen sticks I grew up with. That's wild.

          Wow, those look so much more legitimately like cigarettes than the chalky misshapen sticks I grew up with. That's wild.

          4 votes
        2. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          It seems chocolate cigarettes are more common in other countries! I have a gallery to Deep dive!

          It seems chocolate cigarettes are more common in other countries! I have a gallery to Deep dive!

          1 vote
      2. [2]
        Kremor
        Link Parent
        Yes! You can see that most of the images in the non-US gallery have the word chocolate on them.

        Yes! You can see that most of the images in the non-US gallery have the word chocolate on them.

        2 votes
        1. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          I didn't get very far before having to leave for a drive so I'll have to go back through them. TIL! The candy sticks are absolutely still sold as candy sticks here and are missing the food dye...

          I didn't get very far before having to leave for a drive so I'll have to go back through them. TIL!

          The candy sticks are absolutely still sold as candy sticks here and are missing the food dye that would make them look more cigarette like but they still come in a box

          1 vote
    2. [2]
      fnulare
      Link Parent
      Have you tried regular main stream plain milk chocolate[0] recently? In my experience they are being dragged down to the level of my childhoods chocolate cigarettes... The hard part would be to...

      Have you tried regular main stream plain milk chocolate[0] recently? In my experience they are being dragged down to the level of my childhoods chocolate cigarettes... The hard part would be to emulate the weird way of eating/sucking I remember from my childhood (some muscles in my cheeks get activated just by thinking about it!)


      [0] In Sweden that would be Marabou or Cloetta sold in colourful packing and be placed right before the cashiers, the closer to the exit the worse it gets, or in this case better!

      2 votes
      1. Kremor
        Link Parent
        I'm from México, but now that you mention it. I recently came across Chocolate en Polvo Morelia, and the taste kind of reminds me of the chocolate cigars.

        I'm from México, but now that you mention it. I recently came across Chocolate en Polvo Morelia, and the taste kind of reminds me of the chocolate cigars.

        1 vote
    3. [3]
      steezyaspie
      Link Parent
      They’re still sold in the US in some stores, they just aren’t called candy cigarettes. I saw them yesterday - in boxes that looked like knock off Lucky Strikes and everything.

      They’re still sold in the US in some stores, they just aren’t called candy cigarettes. I saw them yesterday - in boxes that looked like knock off Lucky Strikes and everything.

      1 vote
      1. updawg
        Link Parent
        Yes, I really enjoyed noticing recently that they are labeled in big, bold letters as "CANDY".

        Yes, I really enjoyed noticing recently that they are labeled in big, bold letters as "CANDY".

        1 vote
      2. myrrh
        Link Parent
        ...i saw proper candy cigarettes sold in a convience store on an oklahoma indian reservation a couple of years ago...

        ...i saw proper candy cigarettes sold in a convience store on an oklahoma indian reservation a couple of years ago...

    4. text_garden
      Link Parent
      Same. I remember the taste, like cheap chocolate easter bunnies or Kinder egg knock-offs and just assume I wouldn't enjoy it today, I will help myself to the occasional licorice pipe, though, my...

      Same. I remember the taste, like cheap chocolate easter bunnies or Kinder egg knock-offs and just assume I wouldn't enjoy it today,

      I will help myself to the occasional licorice pipe, though, my favorite candy-based tobacco product imitation.

      1 vote
  2. [4]
    lostwax
    Link
    I loved them. Here they were called Fags and I loved to get a pack when I was at my grandparents on Christmas holidays, you could buy them at their local pool. Nothing better than a swim on a hot...

    I loved them. Here they were called Fags and I loved to get a pack when I was at my grandparents on Christmas holidays, you could buy them at their local pool. Nothing better than a swim on a hot day followed by a sugary fag. The big brown cigar version was even better but you only got one of them at a time, whereas the fags came in a pack.

    They are now called Fads and are apparently marketed as "fun sticks". Which honestly makes them sound a lot less fun than they were in the 80s.

    8 votes
    1. [3]
      Flother
      Link Parent
      For any non-initiated and potentially horrified North American users out there, 'fag' is also slang for cigarette in the UK, ROI, Australia, and New Zealand. When I was young we only had the...

      For any non-initiated and potentially horrified North American users out there, 'fag' is also slang for cigarette in the UK, ROI, Australia, and New Zealand.

      When I was young we only had the simple hardened candy cigarettes sweets, nothing as fancy as some other examples in this thread.

      10 votes
      1. [2]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        Yeah it's still really jarring to see, but I was at least pre-aware.

        For any non-initiated and potentially horrified North American users out there, 'fag' is also slang for cigarette in the UK, ROI, Australia, and New Zealand.

        Yeah it's still really jarring to see, but I was at least pre-aware.

        2 votes
        1. lostwax
          Link Parent
          Yeah we are aware of the derogatory use in the US, because how can you not be, but 99% of the use of the term here is for a cigarette. It's not even a transgressive way to refer to a cigarette,...

          Yeah we are aware of the derogatory use in the US, because how can you not be, but 99% of the use of the term here is for a cigarette. It's not even a transgressive way to refer to a cigarette, it's just a cigarette and still in common use.

          6 votes