2 min read- A new Ferrero survey found that 66 percent of North American adults think they deserve an Easter basket just as much as kids do.
- More than a third of adults admitted to eating their children’s Easter candy without telling them.
- Adults are also buying Easter candy for themselves, building separate baskets, and planning to stock up again on post-holiday sale candy.
I do not think you ever age out of candy. Stealing candy from a baby? Please. Stealing candy from my nieces and nephews? That’s family bonding. And somewhere between mimosa three and mimosa eight at Easter brunch, I’d absolutely like a little chocolate situation for myself. Apparently, I am far from alone. A new Ferrero survey found that 66 percent of North American adults think they deserve an Easter basket just as much as kids do.
Ferrero is framing this as Easter’s answer to “Adultoween,” the grown-up holiday-reclamation trend it’s been tracking since Halloween. The company’s new survey, conducted among 1,000 adults in the U.S. and Canada from January 13 to January 27, found that 70 percent of adults think Easter is a top-tier time for both kids and grown-ups to indulge in candy together. In other words, the pastel candy aisle is no longer a children-only zone.
More than 1 in 3 adults admitted they’ve quietly eaten their children’s Easter candy without saying a word. Another 27 percent said they’ve competed with their own kids to find Easter eggs first, while 18 percent confessed to cheating to win. That is deeply unserious behavior, and I seriously support it.
There’s also a strong case here that adults are not just nibbling on whatever candy happens to be around. They are planning for it. Ferrero found that 28 percent of adults buy Easter candy specifically for themselves, while 34 percent said they’re likely to buy it in bulk and stash it away or build a separate basket of their own. More than half said they can’t wait until Easter to start eating it, and 64 percent plan to shop the day-after-Easter sales… which is less a confession and more a sign of financial responsibility.
When it comes to what adults actually want in that basket, peanut butter candy led the wish list at 48 percent, followed by dark chocolate treats at 46 percent and chocolate eggs at 44 percent.
The survey even found that 57 percent of adults follow the widely accepted chocolate-bunny rule of eating the ears first, while a diabolical 6 percent (I must meet these people) start at the feet. The feet! THE FEET!
So no, Easter candy is not just for kids, and grown adults are no longer pretending otherwise. They want the basket, they want the bunny, they want the peanut butter eggs, and if they have to quietly swipe a few pieces from a child’s haul along the way, well, apparently that’s just part of the tradition now.