It really bugs me when I see glaring flaws in a product. Usually you can understand how those problems were left in, perhaps by mistake or under time pressure. Every once in a while, though, you run across something and can't help but wonder if they actually tested with real people or even just used it themselves.

My latest brush with this type of abysmal failure came from an unlikely source: leftover Halloween candy. For those unfamiliar with it, Jolly Ranchers are hard candies about the size of a quarter but much thicker. Recently, I came across a new version that's more like a stick of gum, although still a hard candy. Take a look at the picture and see if you can recognize the problem here. I'll give you a hint by telling you that the first two people who got a piece of the candy complained about the exact same thing.

The company took something that worked really well, a hard candy that you can pop into your mouth and suck on, and changed it so that you can no longer do that. That size is great for a stick of gum because you can fold it. With a hard candy, it becomes impossible to keep in your mouth. And if you pull it out occasionally, your hands get all sticky. What were you thinking, Jolly Rancher?