The Mysterious Disappearance Of Hershey's Thingamajig

When Food Dive reported on Hershey's new Whatchamacallit bar in January, the Whozeewhatzit, they could not help but conjure the ghost of the failed Thingamajig, the previous bar with which Hershey attempted to expand the Whatchamacallit brand over a decade ago. They noted that while the Whozeewhatzit seemed set to become a permanent addition to the Whatchamacallit portfolio, the Thingamajig had appeared in 2009, only to disappear from shelves in 2012.

The Whatchamacallit, as Food & Wine lists in a timeline of chocolate bars, was released in 1978 as a chocolate-coated bar containing crisped peanut and caramel. The Thingamajig differed by being made from cocoa crisps and is layered with peanut butter, according to Candy Blog. More importantly, the blog also notes that Thingamajig was a limited-time offer.

The mystery, however, begins when Hershey brought it back in 2011 until 2012, as Pop Rewind writes. Whether this period was also meant as a limited edition is unclear, but it's probable considering the short span of the Thingamajig's second run. Still, years later, people were leaving reviews on Amazon lamenting the loss of their beloved candy bar.

For those mourning the Thingamajig, the recent news from Hershey may be a blessing. In their press release for the Whozeewhatzit, they described its contents as follows: "an added peanut butter crème layer and delicious rice crisps, all covered in a chocolatey candy."

Now, that might sound similar to the Thingamajig as described in the previous section. In fact, Take Out, in their review of the Whozeewhatzit, also notices this striking similarity: "I hope it lives and thrives and does better than Thingamajig, which had the exact same components, down to the cocoa crisp base and peanut butter creme."

Why Hershey would recreate a candy bar they have already sold with a new name is not known. Perhaps they simply prefer names beginning with an interrogative pronoun to the older name that deviates from the theme. Still, the Take Out review gives the bar a B, so between that and Hershey's loss of interest in the Thingamajig, the Whoozeewhatzit is unlikely to remain long enough to finally shed light on this mystery.