If It Plays at the Chronicle

SFist's pals at the San Francisco Chronicle are good friends to have. We hear the hot news first, we get thrilling behind the scenes gossip, and one time we saw Sharon Stone in person.

But even more thrilling than all the celebrity and news stuff, the Chronicle vending machines have some of the oddest candy you'll find anywhere. We heard tell of Almond Snickers way before they showed up at the local convenience store. Another time, our source at the Chronicle showed at SFist HQ with a Pina Colada Almond Joy, a concoction we refused to believe until we saw it ourselves, and have regretted seeing ever since (it tasted how you'd think it might).

Today our contact sent us something all new, "Peanut Butter Mazing", described as a "Milk Chocolate Bar with Peanut Butter M&M Minis". Look at this thing!

So what's the deal? Does the Hearst Corporation's powers stretch even beyond what we've been led to believe in popular cinema?

Steve Almond's Candyfreak sheds some light on the strange candy treats found in the Chronicle basement. He leads us to believe that our own San Francisco Chronicle offices are home to a candy test market, where a general product launch is determined based on the product success in a limited area. Whatever, man. We just like weird candy.