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PROVO — A customer, who shops often at FYE stores, is upset that a new candy, which is made to look like the meth from a popular television show, is on the shelves ready for sale.
“It’s really irresponsible to the millions of people suffering from this terrible drug,” Parker Twede told KSL 5 TV. “I am not easily offended, and I couldn’t stop thinking about this.”
Twede said he was shopping for old vinyl records at the FYE location in the Provo Towne Center Mall, when he spotted the rock candy being marketed as “Blue Sky” meth from the “Breaking Bad” series.
“It’s presented in a little baggie at the checkout, at children’s eye level,” Twede said. “Frankly, it appalled me that this product even exists.”
The product is a spoof from the Emmy-winning show “Breaking Bad,” which aired for five seasons. It tells the story of Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher turned meth cook and dealer. The series’ logo and an image of the main character, Heisenberg’s hat and face cover the candy’s packaging. The rock candy is designed to resemble the nearly pure blue meth the science teacher cooks in the show.
“I watched it all the way to the end and then back some,” fan of the show, Joey Sorris told KSL 5 TV. “There could be a warning on the label, but then again, I don’t think anyone actually believes this is real meth.”
Twede, and others who find the product inappropriate, said it’s not about tricking people into thinking it’s real, but glamorizing a tragedy that is drug addiction.
“I have personal friends and family where meth has affected their lives,” Twede said.
Twede wrote a letter to FYE officials asking them to remove the product from the shelves.
"Hello, I was at your store in Provo, UT yesterday and was completely appalled by one of the products you carry. Let me preface by saying that I am not by any means easily-offended. When I saw the end cap full of breaking bad candy meth, I couldn’t believe my eyes. What kind of example are you trying to set for the children in your store? This is beyond unacceptable and tacky. I have several family members and friends who have been affected by this horrible drug. To say this is insensitive is a giant understatement. I ask that you please remove this product from your stores as it is glorifying meth use. Shame on you. -Parker Twede, Salt Lake City, UT"
“If I were the company, I would be pulling it off the market,” Alex Goaslind said as he was pushing his child in a stroller around the City Creek Center. “Something that resembles a drug should not be made into candy. I wouldn’t want my kids to eat anything that resembles meth. Why is this even out there?”
The FYE rock candy doesn’t say “meth’ anywhere on the package. Rather, it says “Blue Sky,” which is the street name for the meth the lead characters cook in “Breaking Bad.”
KSL 5 TV talked to a number of people at City Creek Center to get their feedback on the “Blue Sky” rock candy.
David Proffitt started laughing when he saw the candy.
“It’s not really meth. I think it’s funny,” Proffitt said. “And if kids are watching ‘Breaking Bad’ to make the association with the product, then that’s a bigger problem than this store selling the candy.”
Twede isn’t taking it lightly.
“Remember the candy cigarettes from the '80s and '90s? They were pulled from the shelves because they were glamorizing smoking, and that isn’t even illegal,” Twede said. “I would hope this could be addressed and FYE would be gracious enough to get rid of this product.”
Editor's note: This article previously said "Breaking Bad" ran for six seasons. It ran for five seasons.
