After having watched this movie, I am at a loss as to what they were trying to achieve. If I guess, I would say that they think candy doesn't need to be merchandised; that candy is adored in childhood and so it can sustain itself without the adulteration of advertising. But I'm not sure.
Part of the reason for the confusion is that they flip flop between attacking the candy industry and defending it. Points A, B and C are presented as negative truths. Then points D, E and F are debunked negatives... and back and forth they go. As I stated in the beginning, they are also making arguments about the advertising of candy, and there are no back and forths on that end. This is why I think the advertising argument might be their main argument.
These arguments are presented in an almost documentary style. The movie feels very Michael Moore-ish. Except that all their points, which are really more like bar trivia, are linked by a very thin fictitious plot. At first I wasn't sure if the points were true, or made up for the benefit of the plot. So I researched them. And... well they weren't made up, but they are very poorly researched. Here are examples:
~ Children have choked to death on marshmallows playing the "Chubby Bunny Challenge". The film even showed the warning on a bag that marshmallows could be a choking hazard. (No way! Really?!) But the truth is that in 70 years of the "Chubby Bunny Challenge" ONE (that's 1, as in "a single") child choked to death. The only other known person to choke to death in 70 years of Chubby Bunny was a grown woman. That is, (for those who are poor at math) a grand total of TWO people in 70 years. They fail to mention this.
~ The creator of Tootsie Rolls committed suicide. Okay. True... but no connection to anything relevant, he just happened to be a person who took his own life. I'm not sure why it's in the film as some sort of "Gotcha!", but moving on.
~ John F. Kennedy said he was a jelly doughnut in German in a speech he gave in Berlin, Germany. Again, not sure why it's in the movie, but NO he most certainly did NOT. I speak fluent German. German does not operate like English. The phrase "What kind of dog is that?" can be literally translated from German as "What for a dog is that?" German does not have a word for "of". So in English, "I am Berliner" uses the same format as in German. But Kennedy said "I am "A" Berliner" and the best way to translate this addition of the "a" article into English is as "one" not "a". This means, using German language logic, Kennedy said, "I am "one" "of" the Berliners". NOT "I am a Berliner jelly doughnut". And the claim that Kennedy mistranslated English into German is itself based on a mistranslation as Berliners are only jelly doughnuts in North America. In Germany "ein Berliner" is a powder sugar covered pancake. And it is not "a Berliner" it is "one Berliner".
~ I didn't know this until the movie uncovered it: cartoon mascots aren't real! Did you know this?? They spent A LOT of time explaining, without satire, sarcasm or humor, that Tony the Tiger, Cap'n Crunch, Keebler Elves, Tucan Sam, Mrs. Butterworth, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun etc. Are not real. I'm not being funny right now. This is really in the film. On the leprechaun, they did not specify if ALL of them are not real, or just the Lucky Charms cartoon version.
~ Soldiers ate candy during wars AND also gave candy to kids in war torn countries. WHOA!!
~This nonsense is through the entirety of the movie.
For the finale, the movie seems to want to convince you that you dropped acid as it gets a bit trippy and nonsensical out of no where and for no good reason other than maybe the sake of being... simply nonsensical.
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