What could a horse and a candy bar possibly have in common?

This is a question that candy lovers have pondered for 83 years.

A New Kind of Candy Bar

In 1930, Frank Mars, the father of Forrest Mars, named his candy bar after his beloved horse named Snickers. Ironically, the name of the family farm located in Tennessee was Milky Way. These candy bars stirred a bit of controversy upon their release as they were priced at 20 cents at a time when customers expected candy bars to cost a nickel. The inspiration for the bar wasn’t a candy bar at all, but rather a confection made of nougat, peanut & caramel.

Taking Over the World

Little did he know that this delicious chocolate and caramel would go on to become the best selling candy bar on planet Earth. At one time, confusion abounded as this delicious bar was originally called the Marathon Bar in the United Kingdom. The name was changed to be consistent worldwide, but the Snickers/Marathon confusion continues. In the UK, if someone mentions a Marathon bar, they could be talking about the early Snickers, or the now-discontinued bar best imitated by Cadbury’s Curly Wurly. To make things even more complex, Mars now markets a “Marathon” branded version of the Snickers bar as an energy bar.

Not Going Anywhere for a While

Snickers is the best selling candy bar in the world, accounting for over $2 billion dollars’ worth of annual sales for M&M Mars. Its success is largely attributable to some epic marketing campaigns, and today’s “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign is no exception.

In case you were wondering, there are roughly 16 peanuts in every chocolate-and-nougat-packed bar, and Mars packs 100 tons of them into 15 million Snickers bars every day. Over the years, more than
40 variations of the Snickers Bar have been marketed
in various places around the world.