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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Hershey’s Whatchamacallit & Thingamajig
It was a peanut butter & crisped rice bar covered in milk chocolate. It was simple, crunchy, looked really big and was satisfying. Hershey’s has never seemed particularly proud or supportive of the Whatchamacallit. Their advertising for it waned after the eighties; maybe they wanted to go out on a bang with this classic commercial: The Hershey’s website lists only four notable moments in Whatchamacallit history: introduction (1978), reformulation (1987), package redesign & king size release (2002). You can see the earlier, less “blasty” package design on Brad Kent’s wrapper archive and Mike’s Candy Wrappers (2002 & 2003) The page mentions nothing about the second reformulation where the bar lost its milk chocolate and gained its rich chocolatey coating (circa 2006).
This bar is made with chocolate, cocoa crisps and peanut butter. At first glance it sounds like it might be the original Whatchamacallit, the one without the caramel (well, that also had real chocolate). Instead it’s a block of cocoa flavored crisped rice covered with a strip of peanut butter and then covered in Hershey’s inimitable imitation chocolate. As with many limited edition products, this bar is slightly smaller than the original. It’s 1.5 ounces versus the 1.6 ounces of the Whatchamacallit.
Whatchamacallit on the left and Thingamajig on the right It’s hard to review the Thingamajig in a vacuum, so naturally I’m comparing it to the Whatchamacallit. I’m also prone to wondering if, when Hershey’s was developing the Whatchamacallit, that they didn’t go through this bar as part of the evolution of the new product, obviously rejecting it. The Thingamajig has a nice cocoa scent along with a whiff or roasted peanuts. It’s not quite a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup smell, but pretty close. The bit into the bar is a quick snap, biting through the cocoa crispies is easy, they’re crunchy but have plenty of give since they don’t seem to be held together by marshmallow or peanut butter like the Whatchamacallit. The mockolate coating is rather good ... I have to give Hershey’s credit, their fake chocolate can often be better than some other companies’ real chocolate. The cocoa flavors from the crispy center probably help. The peanut butter is a bit salty, creamy and smooth (smoother than a peanut butter cup center). Overall, it’s a nice experience ... probably not something I’d want again. I’m not sure why Hershey’s did it, but they’re not really taking any credit for it (they never emailed me about it, it doesn’t appear on their website) and it will probably disappear without any fanfare as well. Rating: 6 out of 10 As a little side note, since I’ve never done an official review of the Whatchamacallit (which by now I’m rather dreading typing), I thought I’d add that here: The bar smells like cocoa and toffee. The peanut butter crisped rice center is great. It’s buttery, salty, crunchy and has a good roasted nut flavor and a strong butter/dairy note to it. The caramel, though only a very thin layer, gives it a bit of a chew that holds it together in the mouth. The mockolate coating is creamy and melts well but offers no chocolate flavors here ... just a sealant for the crispy bar. Rating: 6 out of 10 But most of all, I have to wonder why the Whatchamacallit isn’t a Reese’s branded product, getting the full benefit of the peanut butter branding. I was really late in finding these bars in my area. Here are some other opinions on them: AV Club Taste Test (also a head to head), Cocoa-Heaven (head to head) and Candy Yum Yum. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:44 pm
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICEAll content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2009 by Cybele MayPlease do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes. Design by Hop Studios & powered by Expression Engine
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I believe the Thingamajig was special to Walgreens. It was the suggestive selling item, the product most cashiers are forced to push on you at the register, for the month of March. It was just a special promotion, and wasn’t added to the basic candy department.
I’ve seen these bars in stores before, but I’ve always been hesitant to buy them. The name is sort of intimidating to me. But thanks to your review, it looks like these should be worth a try!
I’ve never seen that commercial before. The Whatchamacallit commercial I remember and was expecting to see featured some kids playing baseball. They’re sitting in the dugout and one kid says something like “Hey, that looks good. What’s it called?” And the other kid says “Whatchamacallit.” Then the first guy is confused like Costello in the “Who’s on First” sketch.
I do enjoy Whatchamacallit but it is slightly poorer with the mockolate, I think.
I also found these at Hy-vee last week. I have fallen in love with this bar. For some reason, I find them highly addictive. I think I’ve probably eaten around a dozen or so in the last week. It’s a good thing I wasn’t able to eat a whole lot of other food as well or I would have gained at least ten pounds!
I love Whatchamacallits! (even though I know they are not necessarily the best chocolate or peanut butter bar around.) I think I love them so much is because when I was little and would watch my brother in high school plays, during intermission, I would always buy a Whatchamacallit and lemonade… although now I think that combo sounds gross. I still love Whatchamacallits, heheh
You can find Thingamajig’s at CVS as well. There’s a special display sitting on top of the counter where the registers are. One side has Whatchamacallits, the other Thingamajigs. Hershey’s website has a store finder but when I searched the only result that came up was Walgreens, despite the CVS having them that’s only two blocks from where I live. Whats also strange is that they aren’t promoting the comeback of Thingamajig (it originally came out in 1978) on their website. I like it enough that I think they should make it a permanent product. It has its advantages, the biggest being there’s no caramel, which takes away any chewing difficulty when eating it.
I found one today at the grocery store. I bought one and also a Watchamacallit to compare. I actually like the Thingamajig better. I also have to admit that the “chocolatey” coating wasn’t too bad, at least it didn’t crumble apart like so many others do.
I LOVED the original whatchamacallit! My fond memory of it was it being sold at the snack bar of the pool I would go to. They would sell it FROZEN! OMG, it was GREAT frozen! Then hershey had to ruin it with caramel. I love caramel, but not on a whatchacallit. I still buy it every once in a while to eat it. I normally eat the caramel off the top then eat the rest of the bar to give me the closest resemblance to what I remembered growing up. I have let my 4 year old daughter try it too and she loves it. But I stopped buying it as often and dont give it to her anymore because of the amount of HFCS in it. I dont have a wrapper in front of me but its like the first or second ingredient. I have NEVER seen HFCS listed as high a prominence in candy ingredients before!
Jeff - I do have the wrapper in front of me and thought I’d transcribe it here. I don’t normally worry about HFCS in candy because it’s rarely used.
Sugar, high fructose corn syrup, crisp rice, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially defatted peanuts, vegetable oil, nonfat milk, chocolate, reduced minerals whey, whey, contains less than 2% of: partially hydrogenated coconut oil, butter, sal, milkfat, mono & di-glycerides, soy lecithin, barley malt, molasses, PGPR, distilled monoglycerides, vanillin and disodium phosphate.
There are plenty of other “wholesome” candy bars out there with all natural ingredients that will satisfy even picky children.
The Thingamajig does not have HFCS or quite the proportion of hydrogenated oils. Though still the same number of calories.
I’m a fan of Whachamacallits, of course, but I LOVE the new one, Thingamajigs! They’re my favorite candy bar as of now!
The Thingamajig actually is made with real chocolate. On the wrapper it says “Made With Chocolate” and it actually has to be for a company to claim it on the wrapper. Otherwise it’ll say “Chocolatey” or “Chocolate-Flavored” which means its fake chocolate.
source at 4th paragraph=
http://www.avclub.com/articles/taste-test-thingamajig-vs-whatchamacallit,24288/
Plps - yes, this is true that it says “made with chocolate” but that does not mean that it is c"overed in chocolate.” It just means that somewhere along the way, someone threw some chocolate in. Any time additional vegetable oils are added to chocolate, it ceases to be chocolate under the FDA Standards of Identity.
Believe me, if it was really chocolate covered it’d say it.
I do believe, though, that the real chocolate content makes the coating much more palatable than, say, the coating Nestle puts on the Butterfinger.
I was a fan of the original Whatchamacallit, without caramel, but after they changed it I didn’t think it tasted as good. My wife is now a big fan of the Thingamajig but I only saw them at Walgreens for about two weeks and can no longer find them. We don’t have CVS or Hy-Vee in our area so if anyone knows where they could be purchased online I would appreciate a note. You can send the info to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Thanks.
It sounds like the Bar None, remember- it tamed the chocolate beastie?
That is really an… interesting name for chocolate. I didn’t watch the commercial, this is a super slow computer. Though I can imagine it. It would probably be funny.
I have a question for you. Did you actually TRY all of these chocolates, or did you take rates from otehr people?
How long have you been doing this?
Anonymous - I try everything I review. What kind of fraud reviews something they haven’t even eaten? All the photos are original (a kind of proof of what it was that I ate). Though every once in a while I’ll post less-than-in-depth product roundups & lists of things I’ve seen but haven’t reviewed.
I’ve been writing this blog for 4 years and have reviewed over 1,000 products.
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