Snickers
Snickers is a chocolate bar made by Mars, Incorporated. It consists of peanut butter nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel covered with milk chocolate.[1] Snickers is the best selling candy bar of all time and has annual global sales of US$2 billion. [2]
The original Snickers was formerly sold as Marathon in the UK and Ireland.[3] More recently, Snickers Marathon branded nutrition bars have been sold in some markets.[4]
History
In the 1930s the Mars family introduced its second brand, Snickers, named after one of their favorite horses.[1]
In the early 2000s, deep fried candy bars (including Snickers, and Mars bars) became popular at U.S. state fairs and in pubs around the U.K.[citation needed] and Australia, although they had been a local specialty in some North of England and Scottish fish and chip shops since at least the mid-1990s[5] in spite of containing over 850 calories per bar when prepared in this fashion. [6]
In 2006, the UK Food Commission highlighted celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson's "Snickers pie"[7], which contained five Snickers bars among other ingredients, suggesting it was one of the unhealthiest desserts ever; one slice providing "over 1,250 calories from sugar and fat alone", more than half a day's requirement for an average adult. The pie had featured on his BBC Saturday program some two years earlier and the chef described it as an occasional treat only.[8]
Renaming in UK and Ireland
In the UK and Ireland, it was originally sold under the name "Marathon".[3] Mars standardised many of its global brand names and the name was changed to Snickers. For a few months before the name changed, the words "Internationally known as Snickers" were printed on the side of the Marathon wrapper.[citation needed]
For eighteen months thereafter, both names were retained on the wrapper—[3] first with "Marathon", then with "Snickers" in larger letters.[3] The change of name attained some prominence in British and Irish popular cultures.[3]
Snickers Duo
A replacement for the king size Snickers bar, was launched in the UK in 2004, and designed to conform to the September 2004 Food and Drink Federation (FDF) 'Manifesto for Food and Health'. Part of the FDF manifesto was seven pledges of action to encourage the food and drink industry to be more health conscious.[9] Reducing portion size, clearer food labels, reduction of the levels of fat, sugar and salt were among the FDF pledges. Mars Incorporated pledged to phase out their king-size bars in 2005 and replace them with shareable bars. A Mars spokesman said: "Our king-size bars that come in one portion will be changed so they are shareable or can be consumed on more than one occasion. The name king-size will be phased out."[9]
These were eventually replaced by the 'Duo', a twin bar pack. Duos are the same weight as the king-size but split into two bars, the idea of which is to share or save one bar for another time. The packaging even has step-by-step picture instructions of how to open your 'Duo' into two bars, in four easy-to-follow actions. [10] As Mars' stated fulfillment of their promise, the Duo format was met with criticism by the National Obesity Forum and National Consumer Council.[11]
Australian recall
In July 2005, tens of thousands of Snickers and Mars Bars were removed from New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory store shelves due to a series of threatening letters which resulted in fears the candy bars had been poisoned.[12] Mars received letters from an unidentified individual indicating that he planned to distribute poisoned candy bars to store shelves.[12] The last letter he sent included a Snickers bar contaminated with a substance which was not identified.[12] The letters claimed that there were seven additional candy bars which had been tampered with which were for sale to the public.[12] As a precautionary measure, Mars issued the massive recall.[12] Mars said that there had been no demand for money, only complaints directed to an unidentified third party.[12]
Ingredients
Snickers ingredients are milk chocolate(sugar, cocoa butter, cocolate,skim milk, lactose, milkfat, oylecithin, artificial flavor) peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, skim milk, butter, milkfat, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, lactose, salt, egg whites and artificial flavor.
Super Bowl XLI commercial controversy
On February 4, 2007, during Super Bowl XLI, Snickers commercials aired which resulted in complaints by gay and lesbian groups against the maker of the candy bar, Masterfoods USA of Hackettstown, New Jersey, a division of Mars, Incorporated. The commercial, which had four alternate endings, showed a pair of auto mechanics accidentally touching lips while sharing a Snickers bar. Realizing that they "accidentally kissed", they, in three of the four versions, "do something manly" (mostly in the form of injury, including tearing out chest hair, striking each other with a very large pipe wrench, and drinking motor oil and windshield washer fluid). In the fourth version, a third mechanic shows up and asks if there is "room for three in this Love Boat".
The website for the commercials, since taken down, also featured Super Bowl players viewing the commercials and reacting with disgust to the "kiss". The website said that the commercials would be aired during the upcoming Daytona 500. Complaints were lodged against Masterfoods that the ads were homophobic. Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese is quoted as saying
"This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country."[13]
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) president Neil Giuliano said "That Snickers, Mars and the NFL would promote and endorse this kind of prejudice is simply inexcusable." Masterfoods has since pulled the ads and the website.[14][15]
References
- ^ a b Snickers FAQ, M&M/Mars Consumer Affairs Information. Article retrieved 2006-11-06.
- ^ USATODAY.com - Women sweet on humorous Snickers ads
- ^ a b c d e The Marathon candy bar, Christian Science Monitor, Home forum 1999-03-18
- ^ Snickers Marathon - Long Lasting Energy Bar, Snickers Marathon corporate website. Article retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Deep-fried Mars myth is dispelled
- ^ http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/19155.html About.Inc - Independent calorific assessment - NY Times
- ^ BBC - Food - Recipes - Snickers pie
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Celebrity recipe 'most unhealthy'
- ^ a b Fleming, Nic (article author), Chocolate bars cut down to size, telegraph.co.uk. Article dated 2004-09-27, retrieved 2006-12-08. Quote is from Michael Jenkins (external affairs director at Masterfoods, as parent company was then known).
- ^ h2g2 (editors)The Rise and Fall of 'King-Size' Chocolate Bars (UK), h2g2 at bbc.co.uk. Article retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ Hickman, Martin, "Chocolate makers eat their words on king-size snacks", The Independent (London) (via find articles.com; article no longer online at independent.co.uk). Article written 2006-01-06, retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ a b c d e f "Mars, Snickers Recalled Due to Poison Threat", health.dailynewscentral.com. Article dated 2004-07-01.
- ^ Snickers Ad of Men Accidentally Kissing Pulled After Complaints From Gay Groups/ref>, FOX Business. Article retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ Super Bowl Controversy, FOX sports. Article retrieved 2007-02-06.
- ^ TheStar.com | entertainment | Snickers bicker feeds ad flap
External links
- Snickers official homepage
- The Snickers Song 2006 Snickers TV Commercial
- Video Clip of the Controversial Commercial "Snickers Kiss" 2007 Snickers Super Bowl TV commercial
- UK Snickers Advert featuring Mr T 2007 Snickers UK TV Advert.