Sweet Cyber Language

Now that Valentine’s Day has come and gone, New England Confectionary Co. can shift its focus from conversation hearts to a new candy called CyberSpeak.

The floppy-disk-shaped candies are about the size of the company’s famous hearts and come in six flavors, including chocolate, cherry and wintergreen. But instead of messages such as “Be Mine” and “Hey Babe,” CyberSpeak is stamped with one of 30 phrases that include “Cyber Punk,” “Data Rules,” “Click Here” and “Debug Me.”

The idea for the candy came from a group of Necco’s “computer people” in Wisconsin, and the Cambridge, Mass., company decided to go ahead with the idea based on the popularity of conversation hearts with messages such as “Fax Me” and “E-mail Me,” said Marketing Manager Lory Zimbalatti. Necco produces 80% of the conversation hearts sold between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, according to the company.

Necco introduced CyberSpeak last summer, but the candy won’t appear in national stores--starting with Kmart and the drugstore chain CVS--until this spring. A 2-ounce box is expected to retail for 50 cents, Zimbalatti said.