I'd never heard of Peeps either. I wonder if the habit of eating sweet savoury food was taken to America by Dutch settlers. In the Netherlands I watched in a mixture of amazement and disgust as Dutch people sprinkled a thick layer of sugar over their savoury pancakes.
This sweet habit is often promoted by television chefs who finish/ruin savoury dishes with honey or a sweet sauce.I gave up on 'Nigella' when she said in one of her cookery programmes that she would excommunicate anyone who used green peppers rather than red ones - because, she said, red peppers are better because they are sweeter. I prefer green ones, which have a much more interesting flavour.