Reese's Cups

There seems to be a debate happening in the country that has nothing to do with healthcare, debt ceilings, or partisan politics.  No.  The debate is how to correctly/properly/phonetically pronounce the name of one of America's best candies:  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

The problem seems to center around the first word:  Reese's. In 1928, H.B. Reese created the peanut butter cup and named the creation after himself.  So the name of the candy is actually a possessive word; owned by one person.

Now, if you call the candy by its actual name, then I think it's very easy to get the pronunciation correct.   However, in my family (and I am sure in many other families), the candy's name has been shortened to just Reese's Cups.  And herein lies the problem:

• Some people correctly pronounce Reese's as it's spelled, Ree-SEZ Cups.

• For other people, the name has more of a rhyme to it by being pronounced as Reesee's Cups.

• And for yet other people (my parents' included), the possessive "s" seems to have been dropped altogether, making the name Reesee Cups.

It's a real potayto/potahto kinda thing.  I've found these pronunciations to be more  colloquialisms than anything else.  There doesn't seem to be this kind of disparagement with Reese's Pieces, I guess because of the rhyme scheme.

Regardless, I cannot (and probably never will be able to) look at them and not think of my dad, who would eat them until he was sick if my mom wasn't there to stop him.  I'm not sure if they are his favorite candy but, for me, they are forever tied to my dad.