PEZ was originally invented to help smokers quit. Austrian confectioner Eduard Haas III created the peppermint candy in 1927 as a breath-freshening alternative to cigarettes and a way to replace some of the habits associated with smoking.
The name PEZ comes from the first, middle, and last letters of “Pfefferminz,” the German word for peppermint. The original candy was a small, compressed mint sold in tins, not the colorful fruit-flavored sweets most people recognize today.
PEZ dispensers appeared later, and early versions were deliberately shaped somewhat like cigarette lighters. That design made the dispenser familiar to adult smokers and supported the brand’s original anti-smoking message. The company eventually shifted its focus toward children, introducing fruit flavors and character-head dispensers.
That transformation helped turn PEZ into a pop-culture collectible. The brand began working with Disney in 1962, and character dispensers featuring figures from films, television, and comics became its signature product. The candy’s modern image is therefore quite different from its original purpose: it began as an adult mint marketed against smoking before becoming a children’s confection and collector favorite.