TikTok's Viral PEZ Dispenser Hack Has Everyone Talking

Lots of candy comes in rolls — think Rollos, Lifesavers, Necco Wafers, Spree, or Smarties. Typically, as the eater of such candy, your job is to hold the roll vertically, use your fingers to take the top piece of candy off, and then fold the paper down onto the roll to cover it until you're ready for another piece. There's nothing inherently wrong with eating candy is this manner. In fact, PEZ candy tablets were originally meant to be enjoyed as such. Then along came the PEZ dispenser. 

Invented in 1948, nearly two decades after PEZ candies were first introduced as a breath mint, the dispenser was designed to dispense the tablets neatly and one at a time (via New York Times). What a unique solution, you might be thinking, now that you're focusing on the very novelty of it. But think about it some more, and you might begin to wonder, what problem is the PEZ dispenser actually meant to solve? The question becomes even more pointed when you consider how awkward it is to load your dispenser with the tablets. Fortunately, it appears that TikTok has hit upon a way to load PEZ candies into the dispenser without ever touching a single tablet. 

Since the viral-cycle is so short, it's fairly easy to figure out that the original PEZ dispenser hack creator was TikTok user @sonn1c. In his video, he inserts a wrapped roll of PEZ into the bottom of the dispenser, which displaces the inner shaft of the dispenser by pushing it upward. The TikToker then uses a small, but appropriate use of force, pushes the inner shaft back down, which has the effect of displacing the paper encasing the roll. And voila, the paper is gone (it got pushed out through the bottom), and the PEZ candies are lined up perfectly in the dispenser.

Other TikTok users like @jakebsweet and @partyshirt, quickly jumped on the bandwagon to demonstrate how they've been doing the PEZ thing wrong their whole lives, until now. And while it all seems pretty genius, there's just one problem — other TikTok users have tried it at home and found that it is physically impossible. The reason? The inner shaft of the PEZ dispenser would have to be hollow in order to allow the candy tablet roll to rise up within it, and it's not hollow. So, what gives? Are there two kinds of PEZ dispensers — smart ones and hopelessly frustrating ones? Stay tuned as this story develops.