Reddit Thinks Soda Cans Are The Best Halloween Candy
When you used to go trick-or-treating, what was your favorite Halloween candy? Did you always use to bug your friends to trade some candy for some of their Fun-Dip? Did you pick out the peanut M&Ms first and leave the rest to sit in your Halloween bucket? Or did you have a fascination with any candy that was sticky, gooey, slimy, and just plain weird? Whatever your answer may be, it's a safe bet to say that you may not have fond memories of the dear old lady down the street tossing soda cans into your plastic pumpkin.
While candy is first and foremost the premier choice when it comes to giving out treats on Halloween (after all, the National Confectioners Association tells us that $324 million in retail was made from Halloween candy in 2021 alone), it's no surprise that some houses like to spice things up by giving out more than just Hershey bars and Kit-Kats. Deseret News reports that it may be a good idea to give out small toys like stickers, glowsticks, or sticky hands, while Parade suggests bouncing balls, Slinkies, tattoos, and slime are great items to hand out on Halloween. Sure, it might not be candy, but as long as it's something a kid would enjoy, you won't hear any complaints from trick-or-treaters.
But what is all this about handing out soda cans as Halloween candy? Is there really someone sitting on their front porch handing out Pepsi to trick-or-treaters out of a big plastic cooler?
What makes soda a good Halloween treat?
A few years back, a Reddit user asked the people of r/Halloween what, if anything, they would be giving out to the parents of trick-or-treaters. The user's idea was to fill a cooler with soda, beer, or water to hand out to thirsty parents alongside the candy to their kids. It would seem that other Reddit users considered soda to be a pretty good treat to get on Halloween, whether you're a kid or an adult. Some on r/AskReddit seemed to have fond memories of getting soda cans in their neighborhoods during trick-or-treating.
"A can of soda. I got around 3 in one neighborhood," wrote one user. "The best houses gave chip bags, king sized candy bars, or soda," claimed another user.
But what exactly makes soda a good treat? Is it just because it goes well with all of the sugary candy? According to The Takeout, getting an ice-cold can of soda feels like something substantial compared to smaller, less exciting treats. A can of Coke or Pepsi would also be refreshing for most kids, considering they have to walk around in stuffy costumes and wear suffocating masks as they go door-to-door. Another Reddit user even had fond memories of getting a Capri Sun from a generous neighbor.
"When I was a kid, someone was giving out cold Capri Sun," wrote the user. "It was such an awesome surprise refreshment after wandering around hollaring 'Trick or Treat!'"