Mars bought the WM. Wrigley Jr. Company. You gotta imagine a business desk reporter's dream is to one day use the phrase "the chewing gum concern" within the first paragraph of a front-page item. Congrats, Andrew Ross Sorkin! Livin' the dream! That candy industry ought to ride out the depression just fine, right? Gum will be an especially important part of our recession diet at any rate. [NYT]

Awww... It's Peeps. And they're stripping. There's a whole gallery of this stuff? [asylum]

[UPDATE:] Hippie pop star Joss Stone has signed on to do ads for Cadbury Flake. The product is shaped like a rod, so it was quite natural that they've promoted it [Adrants] in the past by having a pretty woman wrap her supple lips around it and roll her eyes back into her head in simulated ecstasy. And then walk down the beach with a horse. The not-so-subtle message: Women and horses will happily give you a blow job in exchange for a Cadbury Flake. Get yours today! Full [classic] ad below.

First they came for the strippers—and now Park Slope has apparently turned against Halloween completely and denied its precious and bright children candy itself. According to an irate reader, nearly every store along 5th Ave ran out of sweets before the sun had even set!

Yesterday we posted a plaintive query from a frustrated reader: Why couldn't he find the "creamy, sweet bliss" of Cadbury Creme Eggs anywhere in Manhattan? Many of you immediately identified with his plight, but some of you also dismissed it. Who was right, we wondered? Are there eggs, or are there no eggs? We had no idea. Then last night, finally, came photographic proof. This is Duane Reade at 73rd and Third, at 9:30 p.m. There are eggs! Yay!

A disturbing email arrived earlier today:

Why are New York's drug delivery services so... uncreative? In California, the DEA just busted a bunch of dealers who had been distributing a clever line of Marijuana-infused candy bars and beverages. The brands available for purchase: Toka-Cola, Pot Tarts, Puff-A-Mint Pattie, Stoney Ranchers, Munchy Way, and Buddahfinger.

By the by, we finally gave in and ate some of Norm Pearlstine last night. (We'd previously said we wouldn't touch any of this smuggled swag — from the secret ceremony anointing John Huey as Time Inc.'s new EIC — until we received a personal waiver from our double-super-secret source that he or she didn't want it returned. Watching The O.C. and craving chocolate, we decided 48 hours without comment constituted a personal waiver.)

We've never before heard of the "Nut Lovers" candy bar from Hershey's.