Sweethearts Candy Marks 150th Anniversary With Valentine's Campaign Celebrating All Love

Candy maker Necco is expanding the definition of "sweetheart" to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its heart-shaped confections stamped with messages of love and affection. A new campaign from Hill Holliday seeks to give the brand a modern makeover by plugging into social themes, including marriage equality. That's a novel approach for the confectionery category and a new recipe for this historically conservative marketer, which produces some 2.5 billion—yes, that's billion—of the candies each year.