os A 1 the xe truly great holidays involve chocolate. Lesser occasions may call for parties or ropecil
- feasts, but, as a rule, chocolate always marks the better events.

aioe: ‘Take Easter, for example. Originating asa “colourful celebration of religious k beliefs and. the
fete. arrival of spring, Easter was a festive holiday on its own, but the introduction of chocolate made
. 9p it-even better. Historically, this: may have occurred during the Cocoa Age, a little-known era, the
- sake” years prior to which are marked with the initials "be" (before chocolate). , |
-. soy ty Over the years, natural evolution has taken the cocoa bean to great heights — from a grubby
mak, little bean, to.a medicinal substance that tan heal the sick and raise the dead. Man's ingenuity
-. brought Easter chocolate into the modern confectionary marvels we see today: Snickers eggs,
“i. warshmallow-filled chicks, and pastel Smarties. But the world is ever-changing, and recently,
pt a. “Heater chocolate has taken a turn for the worse.
"Check out the retail market, and you "H find a growing trend among Easter sweets. Chocolate
chickies, duckies, and Garfield cats crowd the shelves,
surrounded by the Kit Kat eggs and pastel malted milk
— ) balls. Gradually, the traditional chocolate bunny is losing
eg ey a _. ground as a favourite for filling Easter baskets, replaced .
T, he Way IT Se @ I f oo | ‘by new, improved chocolate figures such as roosters,
| oo . oo squirrels and Mickey Mouses.
_ Roosters, squirrels and mice? Yes, you read - that
| right. What do these odd creatures have to do with
Easter, you might ask? Nothing. Yet there they sit, front
and centre on the Easter shelf, rudely butting chocolate
bunnies out of the way. It’s abominable.
_ The chocolate Garfields flamboyantly decorate. the
end of the store aisle, selling for around $4.99 each. -
. Large chocolate-eggs filled with M&M’s, Reeses Peanut
_.... Butter or Lifesavers go for about $5.50. An attractive foil-
” wrapped selection of ducks, chicks, and roosters can be
had for $2.99, But bunnies? Bunnies are on special for 97
cents. Standard sales psychology goes: if you pay more for
an item, it must be better quality. What.does-this say
about cheap chocolate bunnies? . _.
— As name-brand chocolate-makers. have created a
by Stephanie Wiebe — myriad of mouth-watering holiday products, more than
ever before, the bunny is relegated to the’ off-brand
_ generic shelves. You know what this means — chocolate
. bunnies are an endangered species: And you thought acid

_ rain was a problem _
7 A thing like ‘this happens ‘slowly. An Oh Henry egg here, a Coffee Crisp there, and suddenly
a the fancy chocolate egg population has pushed plain old bunnies right off the shelves. A corporate
., décision to push ducky and chicky sales has quickly relegated any remaining bunnies into a
bargain-bin of confectionary extinction. Nabody wants last year’s bunny.
. While chocolate bunnies pose no threat to current lifestyle fashions — that is, they are
biodegradable, contain no phosphates, dioxins, or Agent Orange; and are not totally beyond wheat
_ germ and bran infusion — there appears to be a quiet movement to oust the chocolate bunny from
its proper place in Easter celebrations. Why, there isn’t even a cocoa bean shortage. It may be a
political move, sparked by a weak nougat and caramel °8E market in some little-known trade
- agreement,
Who knows? At this point, all that can be done by the common man is to recognize chocolate
bunnies as the tragic victims of society that they are.
_ Soon, the chocolate bunny will have gone the way of Easter bonnets, parades and white gloves.
‘What kind of Easter does this leave for future generations? A four-day weekend of chocolate
cartoon cats, nougat roosters and marshmallow ducks, that’s what — a notion too awful to
contemplate. | |

Terrace Review — April 16, 1992

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