Sweethearts get Sporty

While those of you in love are looking forward to February 14th, singletons loathe Valentine's Day this Monday. For those of you dreading it, you can look forward to bingeing on candy to easy the pain (at least Bostonist will be). One of the staple candies of V-Day is those pastel, chalky Sweetheart Conversation Hearts with those cute sayings, ranging from "Be Cool" to "Kiss Me."
These candies are actually produced locally at the Necco factory in Revere, MA, which has been around since 1847. This factory produces 8 billion of these little hearts each year between January 1st and February 14th each year. They also produce classic parent-favorites like Necco Wafers, Mary Janes, and Clark bars.
Necco held a contest recently to see who could come up with new clever sayings for their hearts. They picked the top 10, which will all appear this season on hearts. As you can see from the list below, they all took a sporty-theme, perhaps because Boston is now the best sports town in the USA?
The winning sayings were: "#1 Fan,” “Fit for Love,” “Dream Team,” “Love Life,” “Be A Sport,” “Love My Team,” “Cheer Me On,” “Be My Hero,” “Heart Of Gold” and of course, “All-Star.”
Too bad they want to keep them all positive. Bostonist could think of few sayings to give to an ex via a Conversation heart...

The Boston Herald features an article today discussing how other candy companies are trying to copy the success of these little messaged hearts. They even break down by brand who has the best sayings, colors, and amount in each bag.

Photo courtesy of Necco.