Jelly Belly Puts a New Spin on 'Gag Gifts'

In time for Halloween, the Jelly Belly Candy Company has launched a line of gift candies that will both trick and treat. The BeanBoozled promotion offers customers a chance to send their friends and family members jellybeans of the same color with very different tastes. For example, recipients picking up a black bean won't know if they are about to enjoy Black Licorice, or Black Skunk Spray.

"It's a fun gag gift, a novelty item, a little off the normal path," said Jason Marrone, Jelly-Belly's e-commerce marketing manager. "It goes along with Halloween because it’s trick or treat, you really don' know if it's going to be a weird gag flavor or a treat."

Consumers visiting MyBeanBoozled.com, can choose which delicious flavors (coconut, strawberry jam, buttered popcorn) and which disgusting flavors (baby wipes, centipede, rotten egg) they would like to send. They can choose between a round, rectangular, or bean-shaped tin.

The gifts can be ordered for individuals or in larger amounts for groups and parties. The site allows further personalization through uploading photos and artwork or inscribing messages on the gift containers.

Though Myjellybelly.com also allows for similar customization in flavor choices, this new Web site was created as a standalone, according to Marrone, "to segment it from Jelly Belly and distinguish BeanBoozled as its own brand, its own line of creative candy."