Yes, and a point I made upthread. Maybe it’s not inherently clashing with sweet foods, but it is unusual in chocolate, minus Hershey’s milk chocolate, specifically. There’s nothing at all weird or odd about somebody complaining about this flavor, and it has nothing to do with snobbishness or some objection to its popularity. Pair that with the waxy or gritty mouthfeel, and it’s pretty clear why some people (not me, also mentioned upthread) don’t like it and think it’s shitty chocolate. I don’t think they’re putting on airs or being snobbish. For example, I like McDonald’s hamburgers. I had me a jalapeno McDouble for lunch. Now, I see why a lot of people think McDonald’s are a crappy burger. I have no reason to think that they’re just saying that because McDonald’s is popular. It is an oddball burger with a very particular flavor not for everyone. That’s okay, and I don’t cast any aspersions on the person claiming it’s crap.
In the US, it’s illegal to call that crap chocolate. If you read the packaging it always says “chocolate flavored candy”.
It’s been almost ten years since I’ve had a Hershey bar (I don’t live in the US anymore), but I certainly don’t remember them being either chalky or gritty. On the contrary, I remember them being silky-smooth, although they didn’t melt in my mouth the way my favorite European chocolates do.
On the other hand, my daughter says the texture nowadays is pretty bad, so I guess I need to give it another try.
There’s nothing snobbish about not liking something. It’s the attitude of “How can you like that? It tastes like vomit!” that’s snobbish, and for that matter ignorant, because it doesn’t recognize that taste is all about context, and that there’s nothing inherently wrong with any given flavor component (alternatively, “I don’t like this. It tastes like vomit to me.” is perfectly fine). You obviously recognize this, but I’m not sure everyone else on this thread does.
My kid loves Hershey’s bars and specifically requests them. Kisses too. She’s 7. She and my 81-year-old grandmother will sit around and eat them for days, especially if the “Price is Right” is on.
If I’m going to eat something Hershey makes, it’s usually a Special Dark, a Reese’s peanut butter cup, or something made with Hershey’s syrup. But I prefer my candy less sweet and more salty.
(Not like my kid will eat just anything, either – she will only eat certain kinds of savory foods, for example, like goat cheeses and salamis. Plain old Hershey bars are her candy jam, though.)
While I understand this sentiment, there is something to be said if everyone else in the world having a choice between Hershey’s and any other mass market chocolate (UK, Swiss, whatever) would pick the other and say that Hershey’s tastes like puke.
Again, remember that the rest of the world doesn’t like peanut butter, when evaluating its taste level. 
Bear in mind too that Hershey’s is not the whole of US mass-market chocolate. If memory serves, the two top-selling chocolate candy items in the US are Snickers and M&Ms, which are both Mars products. So, even if there is something to the suppositions that there are unique flavor elements in Hershey’s, Americans are able to appreciate chocolate with those elements and chocolate without. Alternatively, Hershey’s might not be as different as it is sometimes reputed to be, and the reaction to it in other countries may simply reflect a somewhat parochial level of cultural conditioning.
When it comes to chocolate I’m not picky but I’ve always avoided Hershey bars and Kisses because I too detect that vomit aftertaste. I would rather not eat chocolate than have those. I LOVE Hershey Dark though. It’s the perfect combination of bitter and sweet with a rich cocoa flavor and it seems much smoother than plain Hershey bars.
Hershey’s is absolutely fucking abysmal, it tastes like vomit or spoiled rancid milk was used in its creation.
Dove is actually decent, if not above standard.
EDIT:LOL I replied before reading the post above me!
EDIT2:Also German mother, yea yea if you think Hershey’s is good you are missing out.
You are 100% ok not to like Hershey’s chocolate. I was BORN in Hershey, I grew up on the stuff, and I can’t stand it either. It’s 100% ok to be a little snobbish and not like something that you just don’t like. Just don’t be a dick about it and you’ll be fine.
Bolding mine.
Two pages of good discussion on how Hershey’s is made, how many like it fine, on discussion of different tastes, on not making absolute calls on people’s choice of flavor, and you come in and vomit all over it, providing a fine example of what everyone is saying about snobs. Way to go! Embrace the stereotype!
You’re not alone. Even when I was a kid, I preferred the Special Dark bar. Still, even though it tastes like cheese, I’ll still eat part of a Hershey bar if I have a craving and it’s the only chocolate around.
Think positive. From now on, whenever you puke it’ll taste like chocolate.
This isn’t meant as a Hershey-bashing comment, but there are some changes in the past few years that may make a difference primarily in the texture of Hershey’s chocolate.
They’ve started using a compound called polyglycerol polyricinoleate, or PGPR on the label. The purpose is to use less cocoa butter than otherwise, and it makes the chocolate less fatty overall.
I can’t help but think this doesn’t change the texture somewhat…
That could make a big difference, couldn’t it?
In my view, you should never lower the quality of a product. Size, maybe, price, definitely, but quality? Never.
Your ideas intrigue me and I’d like to subscribe to your youtube channel.
Hershey’s is not great chocolate. I love love love caramel Hershey Kisses and Hugs, but other than that… there are a lot better chocolates out there. I don’t think it has a bad after taste, but it feels, I don’t know, gritty or something to me.
Yeah… give me your mailing address and I’ll send you a Palmers Easter bunny next year, see if you stand by this statement.
Don’t think of it as stealing from the kids. Most kids don’t like dark chocolate, so you’re merely rescuing those tiny bars from languishing uneaten at the bottom of the trick or treat bag until the parents find it and throw it out in February.
It seems to be a pretty subtle change; had I not noticed it on the label and thought “What in the hell is PGPR?”, I’d never have noticed, and like most Americans, I’ve grown up eating Hershey’s chocolate.
I think there’s some merit in decreasing the “quality” if that quality is imperceptible, and more a matter of process than something measurable. I mean, if you can find a cheaper way to do something and the end product is the same, then why not? For example, if your original product (let’s say canned green beans) used bacon from a local farmer’s herd of Berkshire pigs, but you get larger, and you end up using commercial bacon, what does it matter, if the end product tastes the same, and there’s no shady stuff going on?
Technically, that’s not chocolate. It’s “chocolately” flavored candy.
Incidentally, to add to the confusion, Palmers makes real milk chocolate Easter bunnies among their chocolate-flavored counterfeits. You have to carefully read the label to make sure you don’t end up with the wrong one.
It’s like some people don’t read the thread before posting. (Lawl yea yea.) Though, on the bright side, now this whole thread tastes like Hershey’s chocolate? 
Nothing much to add here m’self; I’m a chocolate fan, but came to it rather late in life. Hersheys is lovely, as is Belgian stuff from any of their “Big 5” (or so) chocolatiers; while the Belgian stuff will give me the chills, Hershey’s is down here in the corner store. I do agree that Hershey’s is a bit “gritty” in texture if you melt it in your mouth; I have always (entirely without the benefit of evidence) assumed this meant their cocoa was ground relatively coarse as compared to other brands, their own Symphony included. Not a bad thing, just different.