# Whatever happened to the Ayds diet caramels **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273 "2002-12-21T21:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/1 "2002-12-21T21:48:57Z")
When I was young there was a diet aid call Ayds (I’m unsure of the spelling.) They were little candie caramels that came in a few different flavors. It seemed to work well and except for an unfortunate name that would later sound like a disease, I thought it was a good product. Does anyone know why it was discontinued? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/2 "2002-12-21T21:52:57Z")
I always assumed the name is what killed it. Of course, it was named before AIDS was coined, so it wasn’t really their fault. I remember my Mom using this product in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/3 "2002-12-21T21:57:01Z")
My mom used these as well! I remember eating them as a kid- 3rd grade I believe. I would grab a handful and take em to school, lol. Think it was the name, and the fact that it is a silly way to lose weight. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/4 "2002-12-21T21:58:56Z")
From what I understand, it was the name… and the “AIDS horror” of the mid-eighties that killed it. You remember, back when everyone was skeered they were gonna die? They tried doing some damage control… renaming the product “Diet AYDS”, but considering AIDS was already becoming known as “slim disease” in Africa, that wasn’t much help. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/5 "2002-12-21T22:04:24Z")
I’m guessing that it was just a combination of market forces. The brand name was so strongly identified with the product that I don’t think they could have weathered a name change. And also, it might have just been that its time was up. It apparently worked by numbing your mouth with benzocaine, and maybe it was just that people didn’t want to try to lose weight anymore that way. [http://w3.uokhsc.edu/phar5442/Lectures/drugtreatmentobesity.html](http://w3.uokhsc.edu/phar5442/Lectures/drugtreatmentobesity.html) Other weight loss drugs started coming along and I’m guessing Ayds was just supplanted. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/6 "2002-12-21T22:32:08Z")
**Epimetheus** , I got sent home with a nasty letter for bringing Ayds to school in fourth grade. (That just sounds _wrong_.) They were Cherry flavoured. [Retrocrush](http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2/offensive/) concurs with the obvious observation that the name simply took on an unmarketable connotation as time went by > [@](#): > > There was also a popular diet candy called AYDS, who’s claims like, “AYDS helped me lose 72 pounds” became too creepy to market anymore once AIDS made headlines. (The package shown there isn’t the one I remember, which I believe featured a red-and-white check-pattern. Not sure if it’s a regional or temporal difference.) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/7 "2002-12-21T22:39:26Z")
Larry, the package in the Retrocrush link is of chocolate flavored AYDS, you are probably remembering the cherry package. My Mom used the chocolate, and that picture looks right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/8 "2002-12-21T22:41:36Z")
Apparently written in 1999, [this page](http://www.namingnewsletter.com/replace_this_old_name.html) of _The Naming Newsletter_ contains the following: > [@](#): > > The sad irony here is that AYDS diet candy has not changed its name. A few years back, the chairman of the parent company said, “Obviously, our product does not give anyone AIDS. But with a name like Ayds, we’ll have to do some re-marketing. We are looking at all aspects of the problem, and that includes the name.” > > Re-marketing, indeed. Ayds is a name which absolutely, positively has to be changed. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/9 "2003-01-15T06:47:44Z")
From [_The Onion,_](http://www.theonion.com/onion3901/history_3901.html) supposedly written in 1981: > [@](#): > > New Appetite-Suppressant Candy Takes Diet World By Storm: 'In the ‘80’s, “Ayds” Will Be Synonymous With Fitness And Health,’ Say Makers. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/10 "2003-01-15T12:11:08Z")
I recall that, very shortly after the AIDS epidemic became well known, the makers of Ayds publicly stated that they would not be changing the product name. I thought that was a pretty dumb stand at the time, since people in the last stages of the disease always seemed to suffer a severe weight loss. I’m amazed that, as the above post shows, they still hadn’t changed the name by 1999. Isn’t this like trying to sell a cigarette called “Kanser”? ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/11 "2003-01-15T14:25:59Z")
On the subject of products named after sexually transmitted diseases, in the UK there was a sink scouring cream called “Jif”. Apparently due to a clash with another Jif, an American brand of peanut butter, it was renamed “Cif” (pronounced “syph”) a few years ago. I can’t imagine how this name got through the approval process. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/12 "2003-01-15T16:45:13Z")
What I don’t get is if it was the name, then why didn’t they just change the name & remarket it like other products do? I remember them too, the chocolate ones but never tried one. ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/13 "2003-01-15T17:10:33Z")
They were ineffective. I ate a box of them a day for a month. Never lost weight. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/14 "2003-01-15T23:37:27Z")
Here, try this: [ebay.com](http://ebay.com) search for ‘ayds’ search only completed auctions…youll see a big list of sales for posters for Ayds from 50s! Here is one: [http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3304255096&category=2312](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3304255096&category=2312) ---
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/15 "2003-01-15T23:56:34Z")
Now wait a minute. Do you think customers are really so dumb that they would stop buying the product because it was called Ayds? If customers enjoy a product, and are loyal to it, they will get over the name. I don’t have their financial statements, but I think the reason the company waited until 1999 to think about changing their name is because maybe it was more costly to change the name and remarket their product than to keep it because of a little bad press. Besides, AIDS is not Ayds fault anyway. Should the rock band Anthrax change it’s name? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/16 "2003-01-16T00:31:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vinnie Virginslayer \* > \*\*Now wait a minute. Do you think customers are really so dumb that they would stop buying the product because it was called Ayds? If customers enjoy a product, and are loyal to it, they will get over the name. > > I don’t have their financial statements, but I think the reason the company waited until 1999 to think about changing their name is because maybe it was more costly to change the name and remarket their product than to keep it because of a little bad press. > > Besides, AIDS is not Ayds fault anyway. Should the rock band Anthrax change it’s name? \*\* Yeah, but can you imagine _working_ in a store, and having a customer come in and say, “You got Ayds?” Do you _really_ want to answer “Yes!” to that question? I can remember when AIDS first burst on the scene and there were all kinds of Ayds jokes (sadly, I don’t remember any of them to provide an example). ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/17 "2003-01-16T00:45:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bob Scene \* > \*\*From [_The Onion,_](http://www.theonion.com/onion3901/history_3901.html) supposedly written in 1981: \*\* Well, _The Onion_ has only been in existence since 1995 so their parody was actually written long after that date. ---
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/18 "2003-01-17T01:38:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Yeah, but can you imagine _working_ in a store, and having a customer come in and say, “You got Ayds?” Do you _really_ want to answer “Yes!” to that question? I can remember when AIDS first burst on the scene and there were all kinds of Ayds jokes (sadly, I don’t remember any of them to provide an example). \*\* Oh come on. How many customers are actually going to walk into a store and say that? If anything, this whole controversy has been incredible publicity for the product. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/19 "2003-01-17T01:46:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vinnie Virginslayer \* > \*\*Oh come on. How many customers are actually going to walk into a store and say that? > > If anything, this whole controversy has been incredible publicity for the product. \*\* Hey, **Vinnie** , ever work in a store? Believe me, you get asked all kinds of questions! (“Where’s your Kentucky Jelly?” is a “favorite” of mine. Uh, nimrod, it’s **KY** Jelly!) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273/20 "2003-01-17T01:48:55Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Duckster_ > Well, _The Onion_ has only been in existence since 1995 so their parody was actually written long after that date. It was written this week, in fact. Note the date at the top. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-ayds-diet-caramels/144273.md?page=2)