M&M's

M&M's are small, milk chocolate candy pieces popular in the United States and in many other countries around the world. They are produced by Mars Incorporated.

The candies were originally made in six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, brown, and violet. (Peanut candies were made in the same colors, except violet.) In 1949, Violet was taken out of the mix and was replaced by tan. Red was eliminated in 1976M&M candies at Foodreference because of health concerns about the red dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), a suspected carcinogen. Despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye, red M&M's were removed to satisfy worried consumers. By 1987, the public had forgotten the scare, and the red candies were reintroduced. They currently contain Allura red AC (FD&C Red #40). In 1995, tan was replaced by blue. The primary Mars production facility in Chicago Illinois was closed in July 2006 for health code violations.

The most popular (and the most common) M&M's are milk chocolate and peanut (with a layer of chocolate between the peanut and the candy shell). Several variations exist, but are harder to find: mint chocolate, dulce de leche, toffee, almond, peanut butter, white chocolate (with and without peanuts), and dark chocolate. Crispy has been withdrawn from the U.S. market.

History

M&M's, one of the most popular candies in the United States, were originally an import from England called Smarties. Forrest Mars Sr. saw soldiers during the Spanish Civil War eating chocolate pellets that were coated in sugar to prevent chocolate from sticking to their fingers. After the rights were purchased by Americans Forrest Mars Sr. and R. Bruce Murrie in 1939, they had to reintroduce them to the domestic market with a different name because there was already a candy product sold in the U.S. under the name Smarties. To identify their new brand, they combined the first initials of their last names: M & M. M&M's were first sold in the United States in 1941. By World War II, American soldiers were given the candy by the United States Army; soon after this it was marketed to the public. M&M's soon became a hit because, in those times when air conditioning was not usually found in stores, homes, or the automobile, melting chocolate candy bars were a problem; but with M&M's, the candy's coating kept the chocolate from getting messy.

In France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Peanut M&M's were known as Treets until 1990. Additionally, Toffee Treets were also available for some time. The chocolate versions were called Bonitos until the brand became M&M's. This was partly due to the market dominance of the similar candy Smarties which made competing under anything but a very high profile brand difficult, with the added risk of reducing sales of the existing Treets brand. Though Treets used the same "melt in your mouth not in your hand" slogan in the UK in the 1970s, this was transferred to Minstrels when the Treets brand was dropped.

In 1954, Peanut Chocolate Candies were introduced, while the M&M's brand characters and the famous slogan "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand" were both trademarked.

In 1988, "Almond M&M's" hit stores with limited release, with appearances only during Christmas and Easter times. These candies are much like the peanut variety, but with an almond instead of a peanut inside the candy. Due to rising popularity, Mars gave them full releases in 1992.

In 1990, "Peanut Butter M&M's" were released. These candies have peanut butter inside the chocolate center and the same color scheme as the other brands. Despite the best efforts of the marketing campaign, these M&M's have not received any widespread following. It has been suggested that this is due, in part, to the enduring popularity of Reese's pieces and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

In 1993, Mars ran a promotion in which consumers were invited to vote on which of blue, pink, or purple would be introduced. Blue was the winner, and was added in early 1995.

Around the same time, novelty M&M's were available in specialty stores, such as F.A.O. Schwarz, in 24 different colors.

In 1996, Mars introduced a new M&M candy: the "M&M's Minis." These candies are very small and are sold in small plastic tubes instead of bags. A video game, M&M's Minis Madness, was also eventually released, based on this candy.

In 1998, the "Crispy M&M's" were released. These are slightly larger than the milk chocolate variety and feature a crispy rice center.

In 2002, Mars ran another vote to add a new color from 3 choices. Once again, the general public were the voters. The 3 choices were turquoise, pink and purple. This time, purple won. ^*

In June 2004, M&M's gained unexpected fame as Mike Melvill, the pilot of SpaceShipOne the world's first manned private suborbital space flight, opened up a package of the chocolate brand when he reached the border of space (100km) in order to demonstrate weightlessness as the candy floated in the cabin. Melvill chose the candies because they were both colorful, therefore showing up well on camera, and because once gravity was restored if they fell into any of the controls they could be easily crushed and not interfere with the mechanisms.

In April of 2005, M&M's ran the "mPire" promotion to tie in with the Revenge of the Sith movie release. M&M's were offered in a dark variety for the first time. In the summer of 2005, Mars added "Mega M&M's" to the lineup. These candies are 55% larger than the traditional M&M's and are available in milk chocolate and peanut varieties. The colors were also changed to less-bright colors (teal, beige, maroon, gold, brown and blue-gray) to appeal more to adults. In the fall of 2005, the mPire promotion ran again to coincide with the DVD release of the Star Wars movie.

In 2006, Mars offered eight new flavors of M&M's via online sales. The flavors were All That Razz; Eat, Drink, & Be Cherry; A Day at the Peach; Orange-U-Glad; Mint Condition; AlmonDeeLicious; Nut What You Think; and Cookie Minster. The first five have a white chocolate and milk chocolate center with a flavored shell. The two nut flavors have an almond or peanut center with white chocolate and candy shell. Cookie Minster has a crispy center with dark chocolate and a mint flavored shell. Also in July 2006, the dark chocolate M&Ms reappeared in a purple package with the Green female M&M as the mascot.

Advertising

Steven Spielberg originally approached Mars with the idea of product placement of M&M's in his upcoming movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Mars declined the offer. Spielberg later approached the Hershey Chocolate Company with the idea to use Reese's Pieces instead. They agreed, and their sales tripled a week after the movie premiered.

One of the commercials for the "Help the M&Ms Find their Colors" contest used elements from The Wizard of Oz, with someone impersonating Judy Garland's voice, with her mouth timed almost exactly to her lines.

The hard rock band Van Halen's now infamous contract rider called for, among other things, a bowl of M&M's backstage, but with provision that all the brown candies must be removed. In one rumored incident, someone had not removed the brown M&M's, and David Lee Roth trashed the dressing room. The M&M's provision was included in Van Halen's contracts not because the band disliked the candy, but because it served a practical purpose: if brown M&Ms were found backstage, then it was probable that other much more important technical aspects of the rider had also not been fulfilled properly.

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver Elliott Sadler currently has a sponsorship with Mars. His racecar is decorated with pictures of M&M's.

In 1997, Mars began a "Find the Gray Imposter M&M game" in which a customer that found a gray M&M in his or her package would be offered a cash prize of one million dollars (fifty thousand pounds in the UK). Attorney Aron Robinson filed suit against the corporation, charging that the game confused customers who found uncoated candies that looked gray. The suit was dismissed.^*

In late 2004, custom-printed M&M's were introduced. Customers are allowed to choose two lines of 8 characters per line and up to two different phrases that will be placed on separate M&M's. Up to Two colors can be chosen mixed in the bag, and customers must order a minimum up 4 bags. The two phrases are randomly mixed between the two colors. leaving you with up to 4 different variations per bag.

In early 2005, M&M's released "limited edition" Star Wars-themed candies, tied to the opening of the Revenge of the Sith in May 2005. The limited-edition candies included a Darth Vader dark chocolate variety. A range of toys, Star Wars Chocolate Mpire, was also released by Hasbro, depicting the M&Ms mascot characters dressed up as characters from the Star Wars Universe. In 2006, M&M's released candies as a tie in with the film Dead Man's Chest.

Will & Grace star Megan Mullally starred (and sang) in TV ads for M&M's in 2004 and 2005.

Iron & Wine's cover of "Such Great Heights" was featured on an ad for M&M's in 2005.

M&M's currently have recognizable "spokescandies" which appear in comical commercials; the most popular of these are the team of cynical and sardonic "Red", who is the mascot for milk chocolate M&M's and happy and gullible "Yellow", who is the mascot for peanut M&M's. Other mascots include Blue for almond, Green for peanut butter, the only female mascot for M&M's, and Crispy for "Crispy M&M's," who is the only mascot not to be named after its color (orange). These are voiced by Billy West, J.K. Simmons, Robb Pruitt, Cree Summer, and Eric Kirchberger respectively.

The Australian television talk show Rove Live always has a bowl of M&M's present on stage when interviewing guests for them to enjoy at their leisure. Guest often comment on this and sometimes throw M&M's into the crowd.

My M&Ms

M&Ms can be ordered with personalized text. Up to two lines of text 8 characters each can be printed on one side of the candy, the other is printed with the familar 'M'. 21 different colours are available.

Trivia

The letter "m" on each candy is a vegetable dye printed using a process similar to offset printing ^*
The Orange M&M character seen in the U.S. was first introduced through a commercial featuring him as a Boy Scout to promote the new Peanut Butter M&Ms. He was then later changed to be the official Crispy M&M and female Green M&M was put as the official Peanut Butter M&M.
Mars changed the name of the "Plain" brand M&Ms' to "Milk Chocolate" M&M's in 2000, but there was no change in the process of the candies.
The distinctive white "m" which appears on each candy was introduced in 1950 and was originally black.
An urban legend claims green M&Ms are an aphrodisiac ^*.
In the United States, seasonal M&M colors include:
- Black and orange are sold for Halloween
- Orange, tan, and brown are sold a month or two before Thanksgiving as "Autumn colors"
- Red and green candies are sold the month before Christmas
- Candies in shades of pink are sold for Valentine's day (there are also special packages of green-only M&M's)
- Pastel color candies are sold for Easter
- Red, white, and blue candies are sometimes sold for American Independence Day or certain promotions
- Pink and white M&M's have been released in limited supply in connection with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
- The 2004 animated movie Shrek 2 inspired M&M's that were green with brown speckles.
- White, yellow, pastel skin, and blue candies were released in late spring 2006 as a Dead Man's Chest movie tie-in.
The name of the character "Crispy" has become a problem even since the Crispy M&M's have been discontinued. Currently the character is being called "Orange" officially.
The original M&M's colors are red, orange, yellow, forest green, kelly green, tan and brown.
M&M's with a packaging bearing the United States Presidential Seal are sometimes given to visitors of the White House. It is illegal in the United States to sell these or any other item bearing the seal.

External links

References

The Word Origin Calendar (Monday June 19, 2006, Accord Publishing, Denver, CO

Chocolate industry | Confectionery | Mars brands