M&M's

M&M's are small, candy-coated, milk chocolate candy pieces popular in many 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The candies were originally made in six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, brown, and violet.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 1976 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 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 Crispy has been withdrawn from the U.S. market.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.
M&M/Mars Company, which wanted to improve the process of coating the candies, let four MIT students give it a try as a research project. The four students involved with the project were Joseph J. Berghammer of Elm Grove, Wisconsin, Neelan Choksi of Corpus Christi, Texas, Jeffrey Falkowsky of Brooklyn, New York, and Ashley K. Shih of Wichita Falls, Texas.
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 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. 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 .. 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.
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