The official M&M's website states the idea for M&M's came from the Spanish Civil War: "Legend has it that, while on a trip to Spain, Forrest Mars Sr. encountered soldiers who were eating pellets of chocolate encased in a hard sugary coating. This prevented it from melting. Inspired by this idea, Mr. Mars went back to his kitchen and invented the recipe for M&M'S® Plain Chocolate Candies." The chocolate that the soldiers were eating were coated to prevent chocolate from sticking to their fingers. Forrest Mars was traveling with a member of the Rowntree family, "...and Rowntree went on to make Smarties, a candy similar to M&M's."[2] After the rights were purchased by Forrest Mars Sr. and R. Bruce Murrie in 1929, 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 the time the U.S. entered World War II, American soldiers were given the candy by the United States Army because they were a convenient snack that traveled well in any climate. 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 coating kept the chocolate from getting messy.
In France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, peanut M&M's were known as Treets until 1990. (In the UK, Treets like Minstrels came in only one color: brown.) The chocolate versions were called Bonitos until the brand became M&M's. Bonitos were identical to classical M&M's but for the white 'm', replaced on them by a series of smiley faces . This was partly due to the market dominance of the similar 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 that melts in your mouth, not in your hand" were both trademarked.
M&M's store at Florida Mall in Orlando,FL
M&M's store at Florida Mall in Orlando,FL
The red candies were eliminated in 1976[3] due to health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and were replaced with orange-colored candies. 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 Europe, Allura red AC (E129) is not recommended for consumption by children. It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Norway. [4] Instead, Cochineal (E120) is used in the red shells. In 1995, blue M&M's were introduced, and replaced the tan candies found only in Plain M&M's. Both Peanut and Plain M&M's now have the same variety of colors.
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.
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 with the removal of tan, it 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 usually sold in small plastic tubes instead of bags. A video game, M&M's: The Lost Formulas, was also eventually released, based on this candy.
In 1998, Crispy M&M's were released. These are slightly larger than the milk chocolate variety and feature a crispy rice center. They are no longer available in the United States.
In 2002, Mars ran another vote to add a new color from three choices. Once again, the general public were the voters. The choices were aqua, pink, and purple. This time, purple won.[5]
In June 2004, M&M's were spotlighted in the media when Mike Melvill, who flew a weightless suborbital arc in SpaceShipOne, the world's first private piloted 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 the g-level increased, if they fell into any of the controls they could be easily crushed and not interfere with the mechanisms (and maybe M&M refers also to his own initials). The stunt was unauthorized; Melvill stated that he never told his bosses that he was planning it.
In April of 2005, M&M's ran the "mPire" promotion to tie in with the Star Wars Episode III: 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.[6] These candies are 55% larger than the traditional M&M's and are available in milk chocolate and peanut varieties. Most of the colors for Mega M&M's were also changed to less-bright colors—teal (replacing green), beige (orange), maroon (red), gold (yellow), brown (same as regular M&M's) and blue-gray (blue)—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.
"My Color" Wall inside M&M's World Las Vegas Strip
"My Color" Wall inside M&M's World Las Vegas Strip
In 2006, Mars offered eight new flavors of M&M's via on line sales, as well as M&M's World locations. The flavors are 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. The company also released a Crispy Mint variety in Australia. Also in July 2006, the dark chocolate M&Ms reappeared in a purple package with the Green female M&M as the mascot. In 2006, the company also trialed white chocolate M&Ms as a tie-in with their Pirates of the Caribbean promotion.
In 2006, M&M's could be ordered and purchased on line with custom phrases, replacing the traditional "M" on each M&M, excluding the Special Edition Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean designs. Released around Christmas, these phrase M&M's were meant for holiday greetings. Also, the M&M's could be chosen from 17 custom colors.
In 2007 M&M's introduced a new raspberry flavor chocolate candy that looks like the plain, but is fuschia and slightly larger, called "M&M's RaZZberry Chocolate Candies".
2007-11-10 05:43:38
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answer #1
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answered by Cracking Up 1
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