Hershey's Is Getting An Early Start On Valentine's Day This Year

One major trend that emerged over the latter half of this year seems to have been that of rushing the seasons and holidays along. This may come, in part, from the whole "2020 = worst year ever" thing, but it's actually long been a truism in retail that you sell for the upcoming season rather than the one you're still in. This is why, should you ever have the misfortune to find yourself short a pair of mittens or a snow shovel in February, you're likely to be met with a baffled stare by a store clerk who is busy stocking the shelves with swimsuits and bug spray.

It seems that grocers are now in on this trend, as well. Forget after-holiday markdowns – if you wanted any last-minute stocking stuffer candy this year, you may well have had to make do with pink foil-wrapped hearts, instead. Yes, it's not even New Year's, but the season of Valentine's merch is already upon us. Still, the fun part of all this is seeing what new holiday candies are going to be available throughout the month of January (or at least the first few weeks of it, we hope), and Hershey, of course, does not disappoint. In an email to Mashed, they've announced a new lineup of holiday treats set to drop immediately, if not sooner. If you don't want to miss out on any of these goodies, you'd best act now since they're (of course) going to be available for "a limited time only."

Hershey's Valentine's lineup includes Milk Chocolate Meltaway Kisses wrapped in red foil with a rose print, a foil-wrapped milk chocolate bear holding a heart, a Hershey's Hugs & Kisses Heart Box that's actually more Kiss-shaped than heart-shaped, a Reese's Peanut Butter Rose (way more romantic than the gas station flower kind), and a Reese's "Big Box O'Love" package of peanut butter cups that's just perfect for celebrate the real, enduring love that comes from creamy, chocolaty peanut butter treats. Relationships come and go, after all, but a good peanut butter cup will never let you down.

Of course, Hershey's won't be abandoning some of our old favorites from Valentine's Days of yore. Peanut butter hearts, of course! Plus those Lava Cake Kisses will be back, yay, as well as Raspberry Crème KitKats. And should you have already made all the preparations for Valentine's, Galentine's, Palentine's, Palatine's (for Holy Roman Empire fans and/or Illinoisians), Palpatine's (for Star Wars fans), or whatever variant of the holiday you plan on celebrating, you may be glad to know it will soon be time to stock up on Easter treats like Reese's new Mallow Top cups or those DIY build-a-bunnies now available from Hershey's as well as IKEA. Oh, and if the idea of eating seasonal treats out-of-season is bugging you, look at it this way: at least you'll get to pig out on holiday candies long before those heavy winter sweaters and coats come off.