With the variety of colors to choose from and a variety varieties, it’s clear there’s a M&M’s bag to suit every person. It’s certain that everybody has had these candy-coated delights at one moment throughout their life. At the very most, you’ve been exposed by the Red or Yellow M&M’s on the TV.
M&M’s have gone through everything with us. From baking them into cookies, to putting M&M’s as a dessert plate at a wedding, or eating them in a handful while hiking M&M’s are a classic candy that has been around for a long time. However, how long has M&M’s been in existence? What was the source of inspiration for M&M’s originate and, more importantly, why do they have become so popular throughout history? We decided to look deeper into this confection’s history to discover everything we can about these tasty chocolate-covered treats. The untold story of M&M’s.
M&M’s have been around for a long time
For many, M&M’s have been a staple of the majority of celebrations in life. Birthdays? Check. Halloween? Check. It’s all due to the long-lasting brand. M&M’s were introduced to the U.S. by Forrest E. Mars in Newark, New Jersey in 1941. But the idea for the product goes deeper than that.
Frank C. Mars had established a candy company within Washington State in the year 1911 and then he prepared the son of his business, Forrest who was to start over the business a few some years after. It turned out that Forrest was not too happy with the way his father was operating his Washington candy business, and He had a fresh candy concept of his own. He sought the right business partner to take on an idea of joint venture creating candy-coated chocolates.
Forrest Mars eventually paired up with Bruce Murrie, the son of William Murrie, president of Hershey’s at the time. The duo started making M&M’s from Hershey’s chocolate in the start of 1940s under their brand new business, Mars & Murrie. Mars was eventually able to buy Murrie completely and removing Hershey’s chocolate of the picture , and creating the company that manufactures M&M’s Twix, Snickers and other.
M&M’s were not available to the general public at first.
While Mars and Murrie created M&M’s in early in the 40s chocolates coated with candy weren’t widely distributed from the beginning. As per History, Mars had been impressed by soldiers he observed eating candy-coated chocolates in England in the Spanish Civil War, and returned in America. United States in hopes of creating a candy-coated chocolate treat that didn’t melt in the pockets of soldiers.
A patent was granted to Mars to begin the production process, and he started making the candy. The coated candies were packed in a cardboard tube to allow for convenient storage and transport, and, as they entered the U.S. entered World War II, Mars sold his M&M’s to only the military for inclusion in soldiers’ diets. It wasn’t until after the war ended that M&M’s began to be accessible to the general people, and Mars introduced the brown paper packaging in 1948. It’s the one is still on sale.
The flavors and colors of M&M’s have exploded like mad
Many things have changed over the years since M&M’s first launched. The first colors launched were red, brown as well as green, yellow and violet. The idea was straightforward: a tiny round of chocolate that was encased in candy-coated shell. Since then, the chocolate filling has evolved into a variety of other colors. The year 1949 saw tan took over violet. Later, later in the year 1995 blue began replacing the color tan. Peanut M&M’s, which debuted on the market in 1954 also experienced an alteration in color. As per Mental Floss the Peanut M&M’s were first introduced in tan candy pellets but later reverted to the same colors as Original M&Ms UK.
The original M&M’s as well as Peanut M&M’s were two of the few varieties available for long time, up before Peanut Butter M&M’s were introduced in 1989. Since then, many new flavors have been added and included pretzels caramel, mint hazelnut, and other. There are hot cocoa M&M’s too.
The’m’ stamp on every M&M candy was intended for an exact purpose
If you’ve come across Nestle’s Smarties You may have noticed they have quite some similarities with M&M’s. In general, Smarties can be available throughout countries like the UK, Canada, Germany as well as Australia However, they’ve been in existence since 1937, a couple of years prior to when M&Ms made their debut.
There are certainly certain similarities between Smarties and M&M’s, as well with other candy-coated chocolate confections. Both varieties are available in disk-shaped, round shapes with vibrant, bold colors. As for their claims to the world is that neither Smarties or M&M’s will melt when you hold them. However, Mars did not want there to be any confusion among his products compared to other brands.
In the M&M’s History, Mars wanted a solution to ensure that its loyal customers could know that they were eating real M&M’s instead of another brand. Therefore, every M&M was first given an’m’ engraved on the candy in 1950. As per Mental Floss, the stamp color was initially black, but was changed to white in the year 1954. It has remained on the candy since then. In the early days, the company had a slogan which stated, “Look for the m on every candy.”
The red M&M’S went on a short hiatus
A red M&M has become a beloved among many, as well as the front and center of some of the packaging designs, but it wasn’t always that the way it is now.
When M&M’s initially launched with red in the original color palette M&M’s stopped manufacturing of the red M&M’s in 1976 , all due to synthetic dyes: Red No. 2. A Russian study from 1971 proved the red food dye with cancer, prompting authorities at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate the popular dye more deeply.
Based on Live Science, the results were not convincing in relation to human consumption, however, due to its adverse effects on rats the FDA prohibited it. The funny thing is that M&M’s not actually made using Red No.2, but the company decided it was better to stay clear of any confusion, and thus removed all red M&M’s out of production. Mars introduced orange as a substitute however, eventually the red M&M that we recognize and cherish was introduced in 1987, and has remained with the yellow color since then.
M&M’s ventured into space
There’s a small number of companies, or people in general, who are able to claim they went to space. M&M’s is just one of them, and the brand has been bragging about it for a long time.
According to the history of M&M the candy-coated chocolates were the first confectionery to be chosen to be sent to space in the year 1981. M&M’s were picked by the first spaceship astronauts, and they were then added to their food source.
Their presence has remained for a long time. Based on Smithsonian Magazine, M&M’s is fairly common in NASA’s space programs right now due to their easy packaging and their ease of consumption. But, M&M’s been used for a different purpose by astronauts throughout the years too: pure entertainment. As per Smithsonian Magazine, M&M’s are often released by the handfuls and allow the pieces to flounder across space. The goal is for astronauts to catch them using their mouths to make an fun snack.
Halloween requires a lot of preparation for M&Ms
When Halloween rolls around here in the U.S., it’s all about the candy. The quantity of candy that is purchased to celebrate the holiday is staggering. In 2019 it is estimated that there was the National Retail Federation estimated $2.6 billion could be spent on Halloween-themed candy, and M&M’s makes the biggest part of the total. According to CandyStore.com M&M’s ranks 3rd in U.S. on the Halloween popularity scale in the Halloween category, with Skittles as well as Reese’s Cups just ahead of their counterparts, but that signifies that thousands of pounds worth of M&M’s will be purchased and distributed to kids who go out trick or treating each year.
How can a business prepare? Luckily, Mars has their plans to a T. As per CNN Business, Mars actually invests two years in preparing for Halloween. They have employees asking customers what they’d like to see for the holidays, and recipes are developed, and the marketing department begins to think about display and packaging that will actually bring in customers. Orders are made months ahead of the time, and with displays plans put in place to ensure that the beneficial and mutually beneficial relationships between the candy maker and its retail partners are as strong as they could be.
There’s a huge number of M&M’s produced and sold
Do you remember opening a M&M’s bag and ate handfuls of them, and then realize they’re gone. It’s not uncommon. Since M&M’s are tiny and sweet, they’re a great snack to indulge in (or indulge in a bit too excessively) and, with so many people who love these candy coated chocolates, there’s lots of M&M’s that are produced and sold.
As per CNN Money, after taking an inside tour of the M&M’s plant located in Hackettsville, New Jersey, about 2 million M&M’s will be produced every hour. This is quite a large amount of M&Ms. But it’s not the only company that makes these candy bars.
In the year 2018 the factory located in Cleveland, Tennessee was making 300 million M&M’s per day in the plant. Along with that 40 truckloads of M&M’s per day were departing the factory in order to transport the candy to retailers all across the U.S.
Mars once created a gigantic M&M’s cow
There’s plenty you can do using M&M’s. You can add them to cookie in place than chocolate chips. They can be added into cakes to provide an extra splash of color to the middle, or served as a topping for cupcakes, cakes or the sundae. However, Mars decided to get imaginative and make use of M&M’s to create an animal.
In 1990, marketing team at M&M came up with an idea and launched a massive fiberglass cow that was decked out with M&M’s. The cow was adorned with 66,000 M&M’s, which were all set by hand, with the logo of the’m’ facing the outside. “Candy,” the cow made her debut at NY State’s Erie County Fair as part of a milk chocolate marketing campaign. Candy quickly gained a lot of attention. The fair’s visitors would queue for up to 30 minutes to get a glimpse of the gigantic candy cow. The cow was the most sought-after event at the fair in that year, not forgetting the media exposure gained from the cow’s appearance on Newsweek and also a guest appearance live on the show”Live” with Regis and Kathie Lee.
The Green M&M’s brand has a quite a bold image
They’ve been seen since 1995, appearing in commercials and advertisements frequently. However, that popularity was not always there. As per Business Insider, the candy brand’s popularity was beginning to decline, and Mars collaborated with a marketing agency in order to take this brand’s popularity to whole new level. The stars came to life. Red, Yellow, Blue and Green all came out at that time and featured Red, Yellow, and Blue being able to take on various male characters. While the male M&M’s definitely are entertaining and each has their own unique appeal but there’s an element of Green that people have adored the most.
Green was portrayed as an edgy seductress with her long lashes, pouty lips, as well as her white boots. Many have speculated that her image was because of rumors from the 1970s about green M&M’s were aphrodisiacs. When Green came out, M&M’s utilized the rumors and created a personality for the character of the M&M’s, using the expression “Is the truth in that they are aphrodisiacs for M&M’s that are green?”
The second M&M’s female character was introduced a few years later.
Green has been a part of the affections of M&M’s fans for a long time, going from her first appearance in 1995. In the beginning she was the sole female M&M’s personality, in a crowd of male M&M’s. In 2012, however, was all changed. Mars made use of in the 2012 Super Bowl to make Brown’s debut, presenting Brown to more than 110 million people. According to Time the 30-second spot costs an the average $3.5 millions during the Superbowl however, M&M’s had not had an advertisement in the previous three seasons prior to Brown making a splash.
As the company has done with all of the M&M’s characters Brown’s new persona was an adorable package with an array of personalities. As per HuffPost, Brown debuted as the “Chief Chocolate Officer” finally coming out after many years in the shadows. Vanessa Williams, the voice behind Brown spoke to HuffPost the following “Ms. Brown is definitely the brain behind all this. She was the one who invented all the other colored candy candies.”
M&M’s are full of sugar
There’s no doubt that M&M’s are a bit difficult to consume in moderate amounts. Unpacking a bag and not eating all of them is practically impossible. But it appears that Mars would like their customers to pay attention to how much sugar they’re eating regardless of the fact that it results in lower profits for the M&M’s.
The U.S. Department of Health published its 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines It made the need for Americans to restrict the amount of added sugar they consume daily to not exceeding 10 percent of their total caloric intake during the day. As per CNN, Mars issued a statement to support the recommendation, saying that limiting added sugar consumption will be beneficial to everyone Mars customers as well as better educating consumers with added information on the labels. Dave Crean, head of research and development at Mars at the time, said, “We want people to be able to enjoy Mars brands in a balanced diet.”
The typical M&M’s actually has 29 grams of sugar added which is more than 58 percent of the daily value It’s definitely over the limit recommended if you’re eating the entire bag. Maybe Mars isn’t expecting a customer to eat all of the packet in one sitting?
You can create a totally customized version of M&M’s
If you’ve ever thought that it would be cool to get your picture put on M&M Well, now you can now -and you can even order M&Ms and have them shipped directly to your doorstep. Dan Michael, previous R&D Director at Mars was the one who came up with an idea to work out every one the kinks. This allows people to purchase anything they like on M&M’s.
In an interview conducted by Atlas Obscura, Michael worked on the project for approximately six years prior to it coming to fruition. Michael launched an entirely new manufacturing facility named The Print Shop to be capable of making custom M&M’s requests. Today, M&M’s fans can purchase whatever they’d like to print on the candy in any shade. The M&M’s store has 24 colors to pick from, along with the option to add graphics, text or upload a customized image.
