Conversation hearts, or better known as Sweethearts, are now the number one candy for Valentine’s Day shoppers. According to CandyStore’s figures, heart-shaped boxes of chocolate make up 9.6 percent of Valentine’s Day candy purchases, conversation hearts account for 10.2 percent. Although it is a marginal number, with $1.8 billion spent on candy alone in one single day, it is a significant difference. Anyone who has ever tired a Sweetheart would agree that they basically are a heart of sugar, almost flavorless. Eating them is not the point, like chocolate. It’s the words on the candy that make them so popular. “We have to evaluate what’s modern, what’s hot, how people are actually communicating, the company’s social media specialist said. The company also recently added Spanish conversation hearts to their line as well as “text me”, “tweet me” to be culturally relevant. Sweethearts have been a candy staple since 1902 when the candies were horseshoe shaped, baseballs, postcards and watches. The fan favorite candy is almost a candy catalogue of over a hundred years of sayings, a sweet history of “hug me” to “tweet me”. Regardless of what the conversation heart says, which language it is in, it’s a communication gesture that will always make someone’s Valentine’s Day a little sweeter.