Why Are Chocolate Easter Bunnies Hollow?

Many of us remember the first time we got a large chocolate rabbit in our Easter baskets and were disappointed to find it was only a hollow shell of chocolate. Are candy companies trying to teach us a lesson in disillusionment and distrust?
Of course not. The answer is simple, according to one chocolate maker: hollow bunnies are easier to eat.

“If you had a larger-size bunny and it was solid chocolate, it would be like a brick; you’d be breaking teeth,” says Mark Schlott, vice-president of operations at R.M. Palmer in Reading, Pennsylvania, one of the first and largest manufacturers of hollow chocolate bunnies.

And, of course, hollow is usually cheaper to make, though Schlott phrases it more delicately: “Hollow has a greater perceived value. It creates a much greater chocolate footprint than solid.”

Well, that answers that, but you'll find the complete history of the chocolate Easter bunny, no matter how hollow, at Smithsonian's Food & Think blog. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Kerstin Wellekötter)

Comments (19)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

"“If you had a larger-size bunny and it was solid chocolate, it would be like a brick; you’d be breaking teeth,” says Mark Schlott, vice-president of operations at R.M. Palmer in Reading, Pennsylvania, one of the first and largest manufacturers of hollow chocolate bunnies."

never eaten a chocolate bar mark?

what BS, just say "cause its cheaper to manufacture/ship" and be honest.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I remember solid chocolate bunnies and I never broke my teeth.

Haha, "greater perceived value"; perceived value, not actual value.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Palmers makes the most disgusting "chocolate" I've ever eaten. My mom gets their bunnies every year (even though I'm long from childhood). That thing goes straight in the trash.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Interesting. Though I think the theory behind imprinting is cultural and culture bleeds together. I don't think blue is a distinctively male color because my parents bought me blue pajamas and a blue blankie, but because the entire culture associates blue with boys and pink with girls.

On another note, women cannot be color-blind and men cannot have super-color vision like some women. Whereas men will be color blind because they lack a third cone responding to the red range, women can have a fourth cone that bisects the red range and gives a richer spectrum of colors. Then there is achromatopsia which is the inability to see color and a really bad name for a baby girl.

Perhaps some of the difference is in the color-opponency cells in the occipital cortex and perhaps the associating of different colors. A part of me suspects women are trained by the culture to recognize a greater range of color names and men are basically not expected to. Wine-tasters also have a wider range of names for flavors, using terms like "earthy" that non-wine-tasters by and large don't use. I doubt the wide range of color names employed by women are innate. But like the wine-tasters, they learn to discriminate.

Even given all that, which is done to be fair, I think there might actually be some innate predilection, but devising a conclusive experiment for that is problematic.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I don't think forced choice paradigms like making people choose a favourite and least favourite colour has good ecological validity as many adults don't have favourite colours. I know I don't.

@ Ryan S, women can also have colour blindness but it is quite uncommon. Colour blindness is carried on the X chromosome. If males inherit an X chromosome with the mutation it will be displayed in the phenotype. If women inherit 1, she will be a carrier, however if she inherits the mutation from both X chromosomes, it will be displayed in the phenotype.

Also, you have a point about gender differences in the vocabulary of colour:
"Stecklers' study in 1990 concluded that women's ability of naming colors is far more precise than men's and also they have a broader vocabulary for color names such as ecru, aquamarine, lavender, and mauve."
http://www.colormatters.com/news_spring_07/focus.html
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
@Muzition and AntDude, the above graph shows females' least favourite colours. Blue was chosen most frequently by both genders as their favourite colour.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Email This Post to a Friend
"Why Are Chocolate Easter Bunnies Hollow?"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More