# Do you remember Ayds candy for weight loss? Did your parents buy it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [August 2, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101 "2026-08-02T21:56:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/1 "2026-08-02T21:56:54Z")
[Ayds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds) delivered a dose of [Phenylpropanolamine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylpropanolamine) in the form of a 1 inch square chewy candy. Ayds was introduced into the market in the 1940’s. The drug is an appetite suppressant. Ayds was available in chocolate, chocolate mint, butterscotch, and caramel flavors, and later a peanut butter flavor was introduced. I remember a box of Ayds chocolate in my mom’s kitchen in the 1960’s and 70’s. Of course, I ate a few because my mom didn’t keep Snack Chips or Candy in the house. They were a treat we got occasionally during shopping trips. Mom would let me pick a soda and one candy bar to eat after we got home. I probably ingested too much Phenylpropanolamine snacking on Ayds. But average consumers didn’t know about the drug. Consumer confusion between Ayds and AIDS destroyed the brand. Do you remember Ayds candy for weight loss? Was it in your childhood home? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/2 "2026-08-02T22:16:19Z")
I remember it, but not from my home. I think I read some kid ate a whole box and got very sick or even died? It also- IIRC killed some dogs. But obviously, anything named “Ayds” was not gonna sell well after Aids came out in the news. > **[Adverse drug effects attributed to phenylpropanolamine: a review of 142 case...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2200264/)** > > Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is contained in about 106 products, over half of which are available over-the-counter (OTC). Most are cough/cold remedies; nine are OTC diet aids. More than nine million Americans were using OTC diet aids in 1981, making PPA... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/3 "2026-08-02T22:19:28Z")
This commercial aired before the AIDS disease became widely known. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L42bZaHzyxE/hqdefault.jpg "Ayds Weightloss Commercial 1981") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L42bZaHzyxE) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/4 "2026-08-02T22:25:52Z")
Lose weight deliciously with the aid of AIDS, uh Ayds. 😉 Oh boy, what a brand slogan! It really was brand infringement. Ayds was introduced in 1940. Over 40 years before the disease was named. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/5 "2026-08-02T22:42:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I probably ingested too much Phenylpropanolamine snacking on Ayds. But average consumers didn’t know about the drug. I remember TV commercials for Ayds. That poor CEO at the time, in the early 80s, must have done a hard facepalm when he saw the new killer virus got named AIDS. I didn’t know Phenylpropanolamine was the active ingredient in Ayds candy- I guess I thought it had some super duper fiber ingredient that swelled up in your stomach, making you feel full. And I was aware at the time of Phenylpropanolamine- in restaurant jobs in the late 70s, early 80s I’d sometimes take a decongestant pill with Phenylpropanolamine and wash it down with a cup of coffee or two. I’d feel great, like I was ready to take on anything. It was a (legal) poor person’s speed or cocaine. Yeah, I didn’t always make the best choices back then. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/6 "2026-08-02T22:43:47Z")
And the company absolutely refused to remove the AIDS connotation from the product. They tried rebranding as Diet Ayds, Dietayds, Aydslim. “Let the disease change its name!” they said. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/7 "2026-08-02T22:46:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It really was brand infringement. Umm, who was selling AIDS? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/8 "2026-08-02T22:54:03Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Umm, who was selling AIDS?  [Bayer](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/22/business/2-paths-of-bayer-drug-in-80-s-riskier-one-steered-overseas.html) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/9 "2026-08-02T22:59:07Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > “Let the disease change its name!” they said. “It’s the one that sucks.” ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/10 "2026-08-02T23:03:01Z")
Most of us remember. My elderly dr gave me pills to try and gain weight. Didnt work but I wonder what was in them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/11 "2026-08-02T23:05:48Z")
I voted I remember it, but that’s only because I heard about it with the AIDS crisis in the 80s. I was born in 1975, and have no actual memory of commercials for it or ever seeing the stuff anywhere. I only know it as a bit of trivia. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/12 "2026-08-02T23:08:41Z")
I recall the ads, and might have seen it in the store. My parents never had weight issues & would never have bought such a product. I recall the flail when AIDS was discovered. Sux to be them. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/13 "2026-08-02T23:37:03Z")
My sister ordered some from a magazine ad, and I remember being jealous that she would lose weight and I wouldn’t. I must have been in middle school at the time, late '60s.. They were just chewy chocolatey candy. Not that good, but good enough that if you were hungry, you’d eat a bunch. I have no recollection of them containing phenylpropanolamine. No weight was lost. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/14 "2026-08-03T00:12:31Z")
I remember it clearly. My mom used to get it. Not sure how often, but I definitely saw it around the house back in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/15 "2026-08-03T00:21:19Z")
Don’t recall that my mother ever bought it, but I do recall that I saw ads for it (don’t recall specifics about those ads). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/16 "2026-08-03T03:19:58Z")
I remember the product, and the ads for it. It was never a thing in our household; my mother had hyperthyroidism when she was in her early 20s, had part of her thyroid gland removed, and was put on prescription meds to get her to the right balance of thyroid hormones (which she is still on today). Her weight was very consistent, thanks to the meds, and she never actively dieted, as far as I could tell. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/17 "2026-08-03T03:26:31Z")
Actually, the original appetite suppressant in it was benzocaine. It was supposed to deaden the taste buds. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/18 "2026-08-03T03:59:58Z")
The next door neighbor had some. Her son, who was about my age, took a few pieces and I remember it was the most bland ‘candy’ I’d ever had. Plus, based on my observations of Mrs. Andrews, it didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/19 "2026-08-03T05:10:58Z")
I came here to say this, and it was taken off the market, not just because of declining sales, but also because the FDA ruled it wasn’t really effective. When I was a kid, I would read my grandmother’s “Workbasket” magazines, which had full-page AYDS ads, that I enjoyed reading because I thought they were regular articles. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101/20 "2026-08-03T09:08:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I recall the flail when AIDS was discovered. Sux to be them. Well, the CDC came up with that name. Recall that people were throwing around names like GRIDs and other unfortunate terminology. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-ayds-candy-for-weight-loss-did-your-parents-buy-it/1032101.md?page=2)