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In the late 1920s, H.B. Reese's candy company came up with the slogan "Made in Chocolate Town, So They Must Be Good."
This slogan wrapped every penny-priced Peanut Butter Cup leaving the factory doors.
Reese chose these words to link his candies to Hershey, Pennsylvania, where Milton Hershey's chocolate factory had already made the town's name synonymous with quality sweets.
Every wrapper reminded customers that Reese made his cups in the shadow of America's chocolate capital.
The slogan worked.
By 1935, while many businesses crumbled under the Great Depression's weight, Reese counted out enough profit to clear his mortgages.
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Hershey's purchased Reese's in 1969 and launched their most successful advertising campaign the following year.
The advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather created the slogan "Two great tastes that taste great together" in 1970.
Their TV commercials showed people accidentally combining chocolate and peanut butter—a jogger crashing into someone eating chocolate, a skateboarder colliding with a pedestrian holding peanut butter.
These staged accidents always ended with both people discovering they loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
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In 1988, Hershey unveiled their slogan "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's."
Their TV ads showed people biting, breaking, and peeling their Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in distinct ways.
One person nibbled the chocolate edges first, another split the cup in half to lick the peanut butter, while others popped the whole candy into their mouth.
The ads resonated because they acknowledged people had already developed their own preferred ways to eat this candy.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups launched their "How Do You Eat A Reese's?" campaign in 1988, featuring 30-second TV spots of celebrities biting, breaking, and nibbling their candy.
Basketball star Magic Johnson peeled off the brown paper wrapper methodically before eating his Reese's in two bites.
Singer Wynonna Judd froze hers before eating.
Actor Rob Lowe carefully separated the chocolate shell from the peanut butter center.
The campaign also filmed everyday people in their homes and on streets demonstrating their own eating techniques.
Some consumers scraped the ridged edges with their front teeth.
Others warmed the cups in their palms until the chocolate softened.
Many split the cup in half to lick out the peanut butter first.
In 1982, Hershey struck marketing gold when E.T. grabbed Reese's Pieces with his wrinkled brown finger.
Mars had turned down Spielberg's offer to feature M&M's in the film, leaving the door open for their competitor.
Reese's Pieces sales tripled in the months after E.T. phoned home.
In February 2024, Reese's aired a 30-second Super Bowl commercial that teased a "big change" to their Peanut Butter Cups.
The ad revealed their new product: Reese's Caramel Big Cup.
Beyond this launch, Reese's has expanded their product line to include specific texture combinations.
Their Big Cup with Potato Chips embeds crushed potato chips in the peanut butter, while their Big Cup with Pretzels mixes in crunchy pretzel pieces.
Each October, Reese's releases pumpkin-shaped cups for Halloween.
In December, they sell tree-shaped cups for Christmas, and in spring, they offer egg-shaped cups for Easter.
To promote these products, Reese's has partnered with specific public figures and social media creators.
For example, they worked with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps in 2016 and country singer Thomas Rhett in 2019.
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