00:02Tiny, tasty packs of a dozen, these sweet sweets swept America all of a sudden.
00:08One for you, one for me. Interactive is the way to be.
00:13The Pez Space Trooper!
00:14And it's always handy when it's time for Pez candy.
00:17Sharing is fun and can be sweet when you have plenty of Pez candy to eat.
00:24Pez comes from the word Pfeffermints, which means peppermint in German.
00:28The first, middle, and last letters are P-E-Z.
00:34Pez was first dispensed in Vienna, Austria in 1927.
00:40They were tiny, round, candied mints, an alternative to smoking cigarettes.
00:45The first Pez mint dispensers were known as regulars.
00:48They were pocket-sized dispensers that looked like cigarette lighters.
00:54To market these, the company created the icon of the Pez girl.
00:59A gorgeous pin-up girl flashing a million-dollar smile and a fresh pack of Pez.
01:04The motto for the campaign?
01:07Smoking prohibited, Pezing allowed.
01:10After World War II, Pez traveled overseas and to America.
01:14But adults still loved smoking more than they loved Pez.
01:18So they shifted their marketing towards children and added more candy-like flavors.
01:23They gave the dispensers some flair, and then, Pez was no longer just a mint or even a candy, but
01:29a cult classic.
01:34The first and most important part of making Pez is the sugar.
01:3950,000 pounds of granulated sugar is delivered every four days to the Pez factory.
01:46Inside the factory, the granulated sugar goes through a milling process
01:49and is ground into confectioner's sugar in 600-pound batches.
01:58Then, the mass of sugar is mixed with corn syrup, plant-based fat, color, and flavor.
02:06The six primary flavors of Pez are strawberry, cherry, raspberry, lemon, orange, and grape.
02:15The dry Pez mix is pressed to make the tiny candies.
02:20It takes 3,000 pounds of pressure to form just one Pez tablet.
02:25Approximately two million tablets are pressed in a seven-and-a-half-hour shift.
02:32Throughout its process, Pez candy goes through a rigorous quality control.
02:38First, each little candy is measured to make sure it is exactly nine grams.
02:43Nothing more, nothing less.
02:45Then, the candy goes through a metal detector.
02:47Please gather your belongings before proceeding to your gate.
02:53The machine you see here is capable of wrapping 100,000 rolls in a seven-and-a-half-hour shift.
03:02Once the Pez are wrapped, they go through another machine where cameras inspect each package.
03:08The Pez have to be perfect.
03:16After the candies are wrapped, they're married to a dispenser.
03:22They're put through a blister machine, which seals all of the candies in a Pringle-like fashion.
03:27Then, the blister is dropped into the dispenser and sent off to shipping.
03:32At Pez, no sugar goes to waste.
03:35The Pez that don't pass quality control are sent to farms as a special treat for these guys.
03:40Isn't that sweet?
03:44This year, Pez celebrates its 90th birthday.
03:48They've come a long way from those tiny peppermints.
03:51Pez dispensers are now sold in more than 60 countries worldwide.
03:55Fan favorites include Popeye, Minnie Mouse, and the Santa Claus dispenser,
04:00which still reigns as the best-selling Pez dispenser of all time.
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