Werther's Original

Werther's Original (from the original German: Werthers Echte) is a brand of caramel candy owned by the German company August Storck KG, based in Berlin, Germany. The candy is popular in Europe and North America.

Werther's Original
An opened bag of Werther's Originals
Product typeConfectionery
OwnerAugust Storck[1]
CountryGermany
Introduced1903 (1903)
MarketsWorldwide
Websitewww.werthers-original.com

History

The sweet brand is named after the town of Werther in Westphalia, where the company was founded in 1903. In 1969, the sweet began marketing under the brand name Werthers Echte. The brand name Werther's Original was adopted in the 1990s for the international market.[2] They are now manufactured nearby, in Halle (Westfalen).

Product

The original Werther's Echte was a caramel hard candy. Later variants included chewy toffees, and a soft, waxy form which melts easily inside the mouth called "butterscotch-melts." A variant with chocolate filling is also available, as well as three sugarless variants that use isomalt as a sugar substitute: the original butterscotch flavour, a butterscotch coffee swirl, and a butterscotch mint swirl. A product available in the United Kingdom is "Werther's Chocolate," a dark and milk chocolate with butterscotch running through it, sold in the same packaging and wrappers as Werther's Originals. A variant available in Canada and the United States, "Butterscotch Apple Filled," has a green-apple-flavored filling.

Commercials

Well-known TV advertisements in Germany and the United Kingdom from around 1991 featured an older man offering Werther's butterscotch to his grandson. The grandfather in the first UK adverts spoke with an American accent, but was later localised to Received Pronunciation. The actor Arnold Peters appeared in them.[3] In the United States commercials, TV actor Robert Rockwell played the kind-hearted grandfather. The grandson was played by Raymond Hewitt.

One of these ads[4] was dubbed into Japanese[5] and aired in Japan in the early 2000's. Its off-putting voice acting led to it becoming an Internet meme in Japan on sites such as 2channel and Nico Nico Douga.[6]

One British advertisement consisted of a montage of the grandfather and grandson bonding together (for example, pointing at animals out of train windows). The lyrics of the song which accompanied this ended: "When one who loves you says to you: You're someone very special too."

References
  1. Duckenfield, Mark E. (2006). Business and the Euro. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 77. ISBN 9781403998637 – via Internet Archive.
  2. Storck's history
  3. Arnold Peters, Archers actor, dies, BBC News, 13 May 2013
  4. "Werther's Original "Grandfather" commercial (1995)". YouTube. 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  5. "ヴェルタースオリジナル「特別な存在」篇 30秒×2". YouTube (in Japanese). 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  6. "Werther's Original | Know Your Meme". Know Your Meme. 2017-05-06. Retrieved 2020-08-02.


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