Love Hearts, made by Swizzels Matlow, are all you get in the way of candy hearts in Britain. The nearest functional equivalent in the US would be Necco Sweethearts, though these may have a different physical form. Love Hearts are round, but they have a heart on them. They have cute slogans embossed on them, so you can use them as a sort of pre-teen dating tool.
There are a few different types of message, all in baldly declarative uppercase. There are your classics:
Plus these days they put in modern stuff too:
But my favourites are the one or two in every pack that are just baffling. These are some I've come across recently:
- START NOW
- TRUE LIPS
- JUST SAY NO
- GLAD EYE
- BYE BYE
I don't know if this is some kind of communist subversion, or terrorist communication (Start Now?), or whether I'm just out of touch with the kids, or what. There are no clues on the official site (http://www.lovehearts.com)(though there is a fine range of merchandise for the connoisseur), though the terrorist theory is backed up by this news article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_1611000/1611950.stm
Mottos aside, the sweets are quite nice on their own merit - pretty much like Refreshers (big Smarties to you, American-boy).