100 years of unforgettable Kisses

Did you know that Hershey’s Kisses got its name from the kissing sound or motion the machine makes during the manufacturing process? I always thought that the dome-shaped chocolate is the imaginary shape of a kiss. You initially pucker your lips to form the tapering, pointed tip, and as you plant the kiss, your lips flatten on the surface and a flat-bottomed dome is formed.

Hershey’s Kisses has long been a favorite in my family. When my siblings and I were competitive little kids, one game we played was to eat as many Kisses as possible. Afterwards, we rolled the tin-foil wrapper into balls so that the person with the biggest silver ball after the bags of chocolate had been consumed was declared the winner. What did we do with the tinfoil balls? Many things. Although they were too light to play a game of marbles with, imagination turned the tinfoil balls into valuable jewelry. We strung them with yarn to make into long necklaces, or glued them on to paper crowns. We pasted them at the end of a stick in the middle of a yellow paper star to make wands and pretended we were fairies who could turn our dog into a dragon or our houseboy into a cockroach. The silver tinfoil balls were what turned an ordinary make-believe game magical.

It is interesting to note that from 1942 to 1949 or the years covering World War II, production of Hershey’s Kisses ceased because silver foil was a rationed commodity. Fortunately that was way before our parents even thought of having us. Indeed, I am sure that kids and kids-at-heart will agree that Hershey’s Kisses without the tin-foil wrapper would not be the same. It makes Hershey’s Kisses extra special. And, unlike the deadly golden kiss such as that of King Midas’ who turned everything he touched golden and inanimate, the silver Hershey’s Kiss is festive and happy and sweet.

Hershey’s was first made in the Hershey, Pennsylvania chocolate plant, which is also known as the Sweetest Place on Earth. In 1907, it was still hand-wrapped without the plume, but as demand soared, Hershey’s eventually turned to machine wrapping in 1921, with Milton Hershey later obtaining the trademark for the famous plume in 1924. Currently, Hershey’s churns out 1,300 wrapped and plumed Kisses per minute, or more than 80 million Kisses per day!

Longevity is the best test for a product’s goodness, and truly, Hershey’s Kisses remains a much-loved chocolate. In fact, it has become the inspiration of a new product, the new Hershey’s Kissables, colorful, candy-coated morsels made in the familiar kiss shape with the same Hershey’s milk chocolate goodness.

As Hershey’s Kisses turns 100 years old this year, Hershey’s is gearing up for the biggest and most unforgettable birthday bash for Hershey’s Kisses. 

Since Valentine’s Day, Hershey’s has awarded a lucky Hershey’s Kisses fan P10,000. The prize-giving will continue every day until May 24, making 100 winners for 100 days. The 100 daily winners will automatically qualify for the grand draw to be held during the culminating event on the eve of Hershey’s Kisses’ 100th anniversary on July 6, where one of them has a chance to win the grand prize of P100,000.

"We are really excited about Hershey’s Kisses’ 100th anniversary, so we’re going all out for 100 unforgettable days with this promo. This is our way of giving anybody and everybody who loves Kisses a treat worthy of this landmark event," says Jerry Santiago, Hershey’s Philippines president and regional general manager.

To join, one must purchase specially marked packs of Hershey’s Kisses, Kissables and Kisses variants like Kisses Creamy Almond, Kisses Cookies and Créme, Kisses Creamy Milk Almond, Kisses Milk Chocolate and Kisses Classic Milk Chocolate with Almonds and look for the unique code found on the pack, which corresponds to raffle entries. To earn raffle entries, text KISSES <code> to 2600 at only P2.50 for SMART /Globe and P2 for Sun. The bigger the pack you buy, the more entries you earn. First-time users will be prompted to register free of charge. To register, text KISSES <name>/<address> to 2600. 

"Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then another thousand, then a second hundred, then yet another thousand, then a hundred," wrote the first century Roman poet Catullus, but he wasn’t referring to the chocolate. However, as Kisses continues to gain an even bigger following throughout the world, the kisses he writes about may as well have been made by Hershey’s.