Recently, Stephen Colbert has made several references to Reese's, a Hershey product, being a sponsor of his Rally to Keep Fear Alive and Reese's advertises heavily during his show. On October 13, Colbert posted on Twitter: "Just a reminder that my fear march is sponsored by Reese's - the candy with something to hide. Specifically peanut butter." But maybe Colbert doesn't know that Hershey has something much bigger it is hiding: forced labor, child labor and trafficking in its supply chain.

Despite the ongoing evidence of these egregious human rights violations in West Africa's cocoa industry, Hershey lags behind its competitors in tracing its cocoa supply chain and instituting labor rights standards among its suppliers. Hershey can raise the bar by shifting its purchases to Fair Trade Certified cocoa.

Stephen Colbert has effectively used his particular brand of humor to shed light on child labor globally and abuses faced by agricultural workers in the U.S. Let's ask him to reveal the frightening truth behind Reese's and other Hershey products!

Photo credit: Smiteme