Get begrudgingly excited about Cookies & Screeem M&Ms

It’s far too early for Halloween candy, but these Oreo M&Ms still sound so good.

If only they were named anything else. Like, say, Cookies & Cream M&Ms. Those, those we could get behind with our whole heart. Cookies & Cream M&Ms are, really, genius. Perfect. Sell them any and every day of the year and we’ll write a rave review.

But no, instead M&M and Target had call the limited time variation Cookies & Screeem M&Ms. The name, plus the bag’s design, brand them explicitly, specifically as Halloween M&Ms. And for that, our enthusiasm must be tampered. Because we cannot, will not, support Halloween candy in August.

Cookies & Screeem M&Ms — can we please call them cookies & cream M&Ms? or Oreo M&Ms?? — are a Target exclusive and they’ve already been spotted on store shelves. According to the packaging, they will feature dark chocolate and white chocolate, which, as @JunkBanter points out, is reminiscent of past holiday varieties (Easter Sundae) as well as Double Chocolate.

Typically, M&M develops store-exclusive candies for both Walmart and Target. Walmart has already debuted white pumpkin pie M&Ms — pumpkin pie flavoring is a whole different discussion — but Delish reports that pumpkin pie is not a Walmart exclusive. In the past, M&M has developed pecan pie and candy corn flavors for fall and “boo-tterscotch” (butterscotch) for Halloween.

But here’s the thing: Fall flavors, while still premature in August, are not as horrifically offensive to the sensibilities of anyone with a passing respect for time and the calendar as Halloween flavors.

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Really, it’s just frustrating. Here is a flavor so strong it could very well be a perennial candy and instead it gets the forced holiday treatment, thereby minimizing the days — months even — you can enjoy the candy without thinking about the Holiday Candy Industrial Complex. It’s a shame.