Bitcoin News Australia

If you see a line snaking around the block on New York City’s Lower East Side, you might assume a limited-edition sneaker is about to drop.

But, it turns out, the wait might be for a pink paper bag filled with technicolor gummies. Swedish candy is trending online and everyone wants a bite.

The fad was, of course, born on TikTok where salivating users watched creators sample sour, skull-shaped gummies from BonBon, a confectioner with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

And demand quickly spread, becoming a full-blown national trend and driving customers to candy businesses, per Eater.

• At BonBon, customers can scoop their own candy into bags at brick-and-mortar locations or order premade gift boxes online (ranging from $18 to $75).
• One of BonBon’s founders said that after the first viral TikTok video, online orders surged overnight from ~20 to 1k+ per day.
• The brand, which previously had one to two people overseeing its ecommerce orders, now has 15 staff members working six days a week to keep up.

Other Swedish and Scandinavian candy shops — Sockerbit in Los Angeles, Karameller in Vancouver, and Sukker Baby in Toronto — have also seen increased demand.

It’s not the first time a candy trend has taken over social media: Candy salad, candy ASMR, and freeze-dried candy have all had their moments.

Sweet Swedes

As with any trend, someone, somewhere was doing it first. In this case, it was the Swedes.

Trips to the candy store are serious business in Sweden, where “lordagsgodis,” meaning “Saturday sweets,” is a tradition that dates back to the 1950s when medical experts recommended only consuming sweets once weekly to limit tooth decay.

The fun family outing is also a popular way to teach kids about finances. Data from 2020 shows that ~70% of Swedish children get a weekly or monthly allowance, and many spend it on candy.

It comes as no surprise that where there are weekly family trips to the candy shop, there are happy people. Like really happy: Sweden came in at No. 4 on the 2024 rankings of the world’s happiest countries.

115: Times the phrase “As of my last knowledge update” appeared in a Google Scholar search of academic journals, per 404 Media. That’s the phrase that ChatGPT, which only has knowledge up to a specific date, uses when it answers questions, indicating these supposedly peer-reviewed articles were composed by AI. It’s a yikes, for sure, but 404 noted that many of these journals are of poor quality, will publish just about anything, and have long been an issue in the academic community.

7: Countries that had acceptable air quality, per a report from a Swiss company that examined data from air monitoring stations. Those seven countries included Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, Australia, and New Zealand, plus territories Puerto Rico and French Polynesia. The most-polluted countries were Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, which all had over 10x the amount of small-particle pollution recommended by the World Health Organization. In the US, Columbus, Ohio, was the most-polluted city last year.

40%: Bump in traffic to Hendersonville, North Carolina’s tourism website, per NPR. The 15k-person Appalachian town has received oversized attention thanks to Charlotte, a stingray who’s pregnant despite not having a mate. Typically, the town only sees an influx of tourists in October thanks to its beautiful fall foliage, but “the Charlotte effect” has produced more foot traffic from curious visitors awaiting Charlotte’s mysterious pup.

3,745: Pieces in Lego’s new Dungeons & Dragons set, developed with Wizards of the Coast in honor of the game’s 50th anniversary. The set, based on an idea from fan designer Lucas Bolt, includes various fantasy settings, a team of adventurers, and popular creatures from the game, like a displacer beast and an owlbear. It’ll retail for $360, but comes with free quests and downloadable character sheets.

Fun fact: Lego’s largest set was its Art World Map, with 11k+ pieces. It’s no longer available, but you can still buy Lego’s second-largest set: the ~10k-piece Eiffel Tower.