Fact check: No, Reese's hasn't split from Hershey because of 'wokeness'

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Reese's ended relationship with Hershey due to 'wokeness'

A March 5 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims there has been a significant change involving one of the country's largest chocolate manufacturers.

"Reeses Switches To Nestle Chocolate for its Products: 'We Can't Keep Working With Hershey,'" reads the headline of an article linked in the post.

The article claims Reese's ended its relationship with Hershey because of Hershey's "wokeness."

The post was shared more than 400 times in seven weeks. The article has been shared more than 800 times on Facebook, according to CrowdTangle, a social media analytics tool.

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Our rating: Satire

A spokesperson for Hershey said the claim was false. Hershey has owned the Reese's brand since 1963. The claim originated on a satirical website.

Hershey has owned Reese's since 1963

Todd Scott, a spokesperson for Hershey, refuted the claim in an email to USA TODAY.

"The claim that Reese's has recently ended the relationship with Hershey is completely false," said Scott, who also noted that Hershey has owned the Reese's brand since 1963.

H.B. Reese was a Hershey employee when he began creating chocolates, including peanut butter cups, in his basement. He started the H. B. Reese Candy Company in the 1920s and became so successful he quit his job at Hershey to focus on his own business, according to Business Insider.

Reese died of a heart attack in 1956 and seven years later, six of his sons sold the business to Hershey, the Business Insider report says.

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The claim originated on a website called the "Patriot Party Press," which describes itself as "a subsidiary of the America’s Last Line of Defense network of parody, satire and tomfoolery."

"Everything on this website is fiction," the website's About Us page says. "It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined."

There are no credible news reports to support the article's claim. Nothing resembling the claim appears on Hershey's website or social media accounts.

In March, Hershey was criticized by some online and faced calls for a boycott after highlighting the work of a transgender activist in the company's International Women’s Day campaign in Canada.

The social media user who shared the post could not be reached for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No, Reese's hasn't split from Hershey due to 'wokeness'