Last year, the announcement that Sweethearts also known as conversation hearts would not be present for Valentines Day 2019 hit the internet like a painful breakup . There was one silver lining, though: Sweethearts would probably return in time for Valentines Day 2020.

The time has come, and Sweethearts are indeed back. Theyre in limited quantities at limited retailers, but and perhaps quite jarringly most of them are missing their signature sayings. The noticeable difference prompts the question: If you dont have something sweet to say, should you say anything at all?

Spangler Candy, of Dum-Dum lollipop fame, bought Sweethearts producer Necco in 2018. The changing of hands took place too late in the year for Spangler to get Sweethearts out in time for early 2019. HuffPosts emails, Instagram direct messages to Spangler, and voice messages for its spokesperson went unanswered the company appears to have a limited presence with a small social media footprint but the candy makers statement on its own website casts Spangler as the hero to Sweethearts damsel in distress:

In 2018 Sweethearts were in danger of disappearing forever when their owner went bankrupt and there was no one to save the brand. As a century-old candy maker, Spangler knew how important Sweethearts were to the Valentine season. ... In 2020, Spangler was able to return Sweethearts to store shelves in limited quantities after a major effort to relocate and rebuild the production equipment, find the original recipe and return classic flavors to the mix like wintergreen and banana.