KEY POINTS:
Sweet lovers are rising up in protest against the removal of their favourite old-fashioned treats.
The Sugar Liberation Army (SLA) is taking its displeasure at the recent slashing of Kiwi favourites Snifters, Tangy Fruits and Sparkles to the makers.
A "slightly tongue in cheek" protest, codename Operation Tang, is being called at the Cadbury factory in Dunedin today to let the company know the people will not lie down as their cinema staples disappear from the shelves.
Leigh Paterson, of Dunedin, formed the SLA "out of desperation".
"I always thought I would protest something like cheese prices - but this is just ridiculous. People just don't care anymore. Someone has to stand up to Cadbury and tell them the way they are hacking at the childhoods of thousands is atrocious."
Ms Paterson, 27, expects maybe 15 or 20 like-minded people to join her protest at 5.30pm.
Cadbury spokesman Daniel Ellis said the company understood many had a soft spot for the likes of Snifters, but the reality was they were not selling.
"If they were commercially viable, we would produce them in as many numbers as we could. The reality is that the soft spot in peoples' hearts isn't translating into sales."
If enough public support built up to guarantee bigger sales, the products could return, but there had been nothing at this level to date.
Ms Paterson is determined to change this.
"In a world of financial uncertainty and economic crisis, we turn to nostalgia for small comforts. Cadbury is denying everyday New Zealanders the sweet, confectionary nostalgia of their forefathers."
