Some sweets can be difficult to place. What, for example, is the off-white midget gem supposed to be? And no, I won’t Google it.
For Haribo fans, one enduring question pertains to Goldbears: the green one doesn’t taste very green.
Lime, apple, mint, basil; none of them fit.
Generally speaking, sweet colours correspond to their flavours. Red is generally strawberry, purple is usually blackcurrant, orange is orange, yellow is lemon, brown is cola, blue is… well, blue is raspberry, but you get the idea.
Goldbears, the gummy bear contingent of Haribo’s expansive range, buck this trend. Seeing as they’re best eaten by the fistful, your experience of them is likely a blend of every flavour rather than a one-by-one savouring of flavourings.
The biggest sticking point, as far as Reddit is concerned, is the green one.
This Reddit thread revealing the flavour saw such comments as ‘Man, now I don’t know what to think’ and ‘I feel lied to’.
Another melted mind said: “What’s next? Up is down? Left is right?!”
All this consternation over the fact the green Goldbear is strawberry flavoured. Besides the least ripe one, strawberries are famously red.
As with many such questions, such as what the ‘key’ in Tangfastics is supposed to be – it’s a dummy, by the way – the answer has been hiding in plain sight on the packaging and Haribo’s website.
“The green Goldbear is Strawberry; the yellow Goldbear is Lemon; the orange Goldbear is Orange; the red Goldbear is Raspberry; and the translucent Goldbear is Pineapple,” says the website. Perhaps the off-white midget gem is pineapple too but, again, I’m happy to live in ignorance on that one.
Nevertheless, people have leapt on the rare opportunity to lose their minds because of course they have.
“20 years of living and it’s only now that I figured out that the green Haribo gummy bear is actually strawberry flavoured,” said one X user.
“Calling the police over whether the green Haribo gummy bears are strawberry or apple,” said one who was, hopefully, not being entirely serious.
“No one asked, but the green Haribo gummy bear flavour is strawberry, and I find that misleading,” said another. Get on the blower to Trading Standards!
Haribo saw fit to respond to the online opprobrium over the mismatch of colour and flavour. The sweets brand told the New York Post: “Haribo’s mission is to inspire childlike happiness through our gummi treats, and we love surprising consumers with fun flavour, shape, colour, and texture combinations.
“Strawberry Goldbear being green is a perfect example of a surprise and delight, and we want to make sure Raspberry Goldbear shines on its own as red, along with Orange, Lemon, and of course Pineapple.”
They say knowledge is power, but perhaps not in this case.
Featured Image Credit: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTopics: News, Social Media
Rachael Davis