This Chewy Candy Boomers Love Is Pretty Divisive Today

We can thank the Boomers for keeping all sorts of strange kinds of candy alive through the years. They were the ones that kept Circus Peanuts and Candy Corn going strong by popping them into every Halloween bag they came across as other generations grew up. Another candy that stuck around was the Tootsie Roll — a once unanimously loved treat that has 2026 Americans divided. 

Some say Tootsie rolls are the perfect nostalgic candy. Some who disliked them as kids have developed a fondness for the chewy chocolates simply as a reminder of the good old days. Others would likely be happy if they faded from the shelves the same way bubblegum cigars and candy cigarettes did in the '90s and early 2000s (candy cigarettes are still legal in America, by the way).

The Tootsie Roll is still associated with holidays and public candy dishes today, but some members of the public say they're a nuisance, filler candy that doesn't even taste that good. "I eat them once a year at Halloween. And I eat about 1,000 of them," says one Redditor; expressing a sentiment echoed by many. Others say they grab a Tootsie Roll on rare occasions but only as a nod to their childhood. "[The] next day, I hate them like I'm seeing them as a child again, too sticky and they keep ripping my little teeth out," another Redditor wrote. Some people express even stronger feelings, like this Redditor who said they "hate hate hate them with the fire of 1,000 suns."

There's a third group of people in the pro- and anti-Tootsie Roll debate: those who can't figure out what it is. The problem isn't that the candy is unknown. It's iconic; not one of the old-school Halloween treats unrecognizable to today's kids. But exactly what flavor are Tootsie Rolls? Some say the candy combines the qualities of caramel and chocolate, others get more creative with their suggestions. "I think 'plastic fudge' describes it perfectly," one Redditor wrote. Another said, "It's like a malt to me I love them." And someone else wrote: "They taste like somebody had chocolate badly described to them over the phone several months ago and tried to recreate it by memory."

In one Reddit thread, a 5-year-old (via their parents) described Tootsie Rolls as "chocolate taffy," solving an age-old mystery for a few people. "I love Tootsie Rolls and just repeated this to my husband because, what is a Tootsie Roll." one Redditor said in response to the comment. "He said that makes sense. I agree." Tootsie Roll itself is a bit vague on the description of its flagship candy. On its website, the company describes it as "a balanced cocoa taste with a hint of fruit," whatever that means.