Every fall, pumpkin spice flavored drinks, cookies and nearly every other food product imaginable invade American supermarkets and coffee shops. It's a phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing down. But John Oliver has had enough.
In a segment from the latest episode of his show Last Week Tonight, Oliver speaks out against the "tyranny" of pumpkin spice and attempts to understand what exactly makes the artificial flavor so popular. Check out his pumpkin spice rant below.
For starters, pumpkin spice doesn't even taste good, according to Oliver.
"Pumpkin spice lattes taste how a candle tastes," Oliver says. "Don't ask me how I know that."
That doesn't stop people from buying the drinks. Despite more and more pumpkin spice products flooding the market every fall, it doesn't explain why Americans consume, on average, around five pounds of pumpkin a year, as there is no actual pumpkin in pumpkin spice. Five pounds is more pumpkin than is in five pumpkin pies, Oliver says. Considering pumpkin spice is made of all artificial flavors and doesn't contain real pumpkin, that is quite an achievement.
"That is crazier than the myth that we swallow eight spiders in our sleep in a lifetime," Oliver says. "Why? Because a pumpkin has never crawled into my mouth while I was sleeping."
What is the real reason for all this pumpkin spice madness? We just like it because it reminds of the fall season, Oliver concludes. In that case, he recommends a Major League Baseball Spice Latte instead.
