Shout Out To My Peeps

Yo! A shout out to my Peeps.

Yeah, you got it. Those cushiony, multicolored little sugar coated puffy marshmallow confections.

Peeps, Peeps, Peeps. I love

Peeps!

I’m not sure when or where the love for this treat began but as far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved the little bunnies and chicks. (I guess it’s not tough to imagine what a kid would like about a marshmallow covered in colored sugar but I hear not everyone likes them.)

Theory 1: emotional

Being from California, we don’t really have a pronounced change in the seasons but we do have the changing of the seasonal displays at the stores. I always knew spring was approaching because the Peeps would make their appearance at the grocery store. Perhaps I associate Peeps with the great weather and activities that come with spring here in the SF Bay Area.

Theory 2: chemical

As mentioned, these creatures are made up of sugar, sugar and sugar… and air. It could be that my giddy “anticipation of Spring” is actually a “sugar rush” that is mis-associated with said emotion (see Theory 1.) If so, this love for the treats could be more chemical than emotional. Hmmm.

Theory 3: visual

Maybe it was just a surface-deep attraction. The only colors I used to see were yellow and pink. Yellow is often associated with positive energy, joy, happiness and friendship. Pink is often the color of friendship, love and romance. Maybe my romance and love affair was something influenced by the colors after our initial friendship. Did my eyes lead my heart in this matter?

Whatever the source of my fondness for the treats, I now take tremendous pleasure from their arrival each year to search the stores and determine whether or not they’ve added a new color for season. The lavender was okay but the robin’s egg blue and the orange (very similar to the ‘International Orange’ of our Golden Gate Bridge) were truly exciting discoveries. And now, thanks to this extensive research done in the course of writing this blog entry, I’ve found a number of other seasonal variations to keep me happy year round. Ah, the Internet!

These little guys have stood the test of time, and a whole lot of other tests as well. Click here to read up on some pretty rigorous research that has been done on them.

If you want to find out more about these guys, here’s a Big List of Peeps Links. I swear, that’s what it’s called.

Peep ya later,
Mike Inouye
NBC11 Traffic Anchor