JFG Nation, Take 5 sent me a bunch of their candy bars to celebrate their new packaging relaunch. Now, I have to be honest – I remember eating Take 5’s a while back, but it took me a while to remember what it was. Google produced this video:

Yikes – that surfer riff is going to get stuck in my head for days.

Reminiscing about Take 5 had me thinking – what OTHER candy bars do I remember eating growing up that I haven’t seen in YEARS?

WHATCHAMACALLIT: I used to LOVE this candy bar, with its peanut-y crispy center and caramel, all covered in chocolate. This is a damn good candy bar. And every time I see one in the grocery aisle, I have that revelation of “OH YEAH! I USED TO LOVE THESE” ……and then I forget about them as soon as I leave the store. Even Wikipedia has to remind people, “However, despite the lack of attention the company gives it compared to other its products, the Whatchamacallit is still in production as of 2015.” Nice.

ZERO BAR: Does anyone else remember the Zero Bar? It was a combination of caramel, peanut and almond nougat covered with a layer of white fudge. Zero Bars are the hallmark of random vending machines everywhere. Anytime I see a Zero Bar in a machine, I always think, “HUH. How long has THAT been there???”

Those are the two that always come to mind. What about YOU, JFG Nation? Any old candy bars you remember that have either been discontinued or are just plain hard to find now? Let me know in the comments below!

Meanwhile, today’s junk food: TAKE 5!!

Take 5: The Money Shot

Take 5! Finally…like I said before, I ate these when they first came out but have not had them in sooooo long. Would I remember if I liked these? The ingredients are pretty straightforward: “a layered combination of five classic ingredients – pretzel, caramel, peanut butter and peanuts, covered in milk chocolate – in one salty-sweet, chewy-crunchy remixed snack.” 

I wonder if when this candy was released in 2004 if the idea of salty pretzel to a candy bar was considered blasphemous or zany? Now that sort of flavor combo is pretty widely understood, right?

Apparently, this Take 5 relaunch is meant to target a younger audience, and the new look is only part of it. Take 5 is fully attacking the younger demographic on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

I dunno – are candy bars really “old” vs. “young”? The only old person candy I can think of are Werther’s Originals…and that weird ribbon candy in your grandma’s candy dish that has fused into a single fist-size sugar sculpture. The new packaging is really nice, but I feel like if you want to attract millennials, plaster emojis all over this thing.

Take 5 has always come like this: two separate large candy bar nuggets to a pack. Smells…chocolate-y.

I popped a nugget into my mouth and chewed and immediately thought, “OOOOHHH YYEAAAAAH – *NOW* I remember why I liked these!” The truth is, I’m not really going to hate any candy bar, but it takes a special combo to make me LOVE a candy bar. Take 5 has it.

The base flavors of the Take 5 – chocolate and peanut butter and peanuts and caramel – these aren’t new, and you can pretty much imagine that all of these would be good together. It’s really the pretzel part of the Take 5 that elevates it to the next level. Rather than a rice crispy crunch, the pretzel gives the bar a more substantial chew – it’s more crunchy than anything else. And the SALTINESS of the pretzel is the star of the show – those big salt crystals popped all over the place while I chewed, giving all of the elements a salty/sweet element: salted peanuts, salted caramel, sea salt milk chocolate. As a result, the sweetness of the candy bar overall just exploded. I loved it. LOVED IT LOVED IT.

PURCHASED AT: Sent to me

COST: I dunno, what do candy bars go for these days…$1-$2?

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy