‘I feel like I got scammed’: Woman buys a $2 Kit-Kat from a Dollar Store. Then she takes a closer look at the packaging after it tasted weird
When biting into your favorite chocolate bar, you expect it to be rich and decadent, and to melt in your mouth. However, a Canadian woman had the opposite reaction when she sank her teeth into a Kit-Kat she purchased from the Dollar Haven, not realizing it wasn’t the same chocolate she loves.
“So, I just went into a Dollar Store and I got this Kit-Kat,” TikTok creator Tracy (@tracys.folly) tells more than 46,000 viewers while sitting in her car.
Then, she pulls out an extra-large Kit-Kat bar with chunky white font and classic ruby red wrapper. Once she bit into the chocolate wafer, she says it tasted different.
“I was thinking, ‘this doesn’t taste that good.’ This doesn’t taste like a Kit-Kat, which is crazy because I love Kit-Kats,” she states. After she flipped the chocolate bar to read the fine print, it clicked.
“It’s a Hershey’s KitKat. This is the American Kit-Kat that everyone says is worse than the Canadian one,” Tracy says.
Unlike in the United States, Nestlé manufactures the candy in Canada and at least 13 other countries, according to CNN. Due to a licensing agreement, Nestlé owns Kit-Kat and distributes it globally, whereas Hershey’s has the rights to make and sell it in the United States.
“I’m Canadian and I somehow ended up with this American Kit-Kat in a Canadian Dollar Store,” Tracy remarks.
Because of the drastic flavor, she felt jipped. “This is significantly worse than our regular Kit-Kats and I feel like I got scammed out of $2,” she says. “The Canadian Kit-Kat is worlds better than this. I can’t even explain how much better it is.”
International viewers weigh in
Many who have tried Hershey’s Kit-Kat criticized the flavor.
“Strange that the U.S KitKat is here. I totally agree, the U.S. kitKats are waxy and synthetic tasting,” one viewer commented.
“The American KitKat is one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever tasted,” another echoed.
“[Accidentally] used one of my snack options on a KitKat at Disney not knowing it would be different from ours. It was genuinely disgusting and I felt like I had wasted my snack,” a third said.
In addition to Tracy, some have inadvertently stumbled across American ones as well.
“Ah, so that’s why. I got one of those exact same XL things as a bogo offer and never ate the other one because the first one sucked,” one commenter remarked.
“Thank you so much, I experienced this too and no one believed me,” a second revealed.
Why does Hershey’s Kit-Kat taste different than Nestlé’s?
Although they share nearly identical ingredients, there are a couple of differences that can affect their flavor. For example, the American Kit-Kat has “sugar” as its primary ingredient (the one listed first) along with vegetable oil as its fourth. Too much sugar and vegetable oil can give chocolate a waxy taste. On the other hand, the Canadian Kit-Kat has “Milk Chocolate” as the main ingredient, adding a sweeter, delectable flavor.
Statista states that the United States exports 1.3 billion U.S. dollars annually in chocolate products from Canada. This could be why an American Kit-Kat can be found in Canada.
@tracys.folly Some notes: 1. This was not at a dollarama. 2. It tastes like cheap chocolate eggs or a dollar store advent calendar? 3. I’m so flabbergasted in this video that I forget grammar I’m sorry? #kitkat #canadiankitkat #hersheys #USA #canada ♬ original sound – Tracy?
The Mary Sue reached out to Tracy via TikTok comment and direct message.
Update Sep. 10, 2025:
During an interview with The Mary Sue, Tracy revealed what compelled her to grab the KitKat bar.
“I think I probably grabbed it BECAUSE it looked a little different – the size was appealing but it also probably grabbed my attention because it stood out as something that wasn’t quite familiar,” she shared via TikTok direct message.
Furthermore, she believed the American counterpart tasted ‘waxy’ and ‘grainy.’
“I feel like I must have tried them before. I worked in Florida for two different summers and I feel like I must have bought one at some point? But I don’t remember it really standing out to me so I can’t be sure? I feel like I would have remembered if it tasted that much different,” she said. “It really tasted like cheap chocolate eggs or dollar store advent calendars – that very sugary, almost grainy or waxy taste?”
As a result, the content creator didn’t eat the rest of her chocolate bar. Instead, she gave the rest to her family.
“I gave a piece to everyone in my family to let them share in my shock. I did not eat more of it but only because my dad and little sister didn’t seem to mind it, so they finished it,” she shared.
In Tracy’s opinion, this was a business tactic.
“I think goods, and in particular, candy, is meant to be purchased on a whim without much thought. Companies want us to buy things without thinking, and do so with many tactics including packaging,” she revealed. “I had no reason to assume the KitKat wasn’t going to be completely normal because the situation I was in was completely normal. I would have assumed many different reasons as to why the chocolate looked different before I assumed it wasn’t Nestle.”
She continued, “So I think the whole video and all the comments that it came with were a really interesting look into consumerism and the ways we want to believe that we can’t tricked by marketing. I’ve studied both graphic design and marketing in university and still fall for tactics that are used to distract consumers.”
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