People are just realising why Snickers has its bizarre name and it’s blowing their minds
People were stunned when they found out where Snickers got its bizarre name.
It’s perhaps one of the more unusual names for candy bars, but it actually derives from the nickname of a horse.
4
4
The horse belonged to Ethel Mars – co-founder of Mar-o-Bar, now known as the Mars Company.
According to legend, the horse Snickers died just before the nameless bar of chocolate went into production.
And as a tribute, Ethel and husband Frank decided to name the new bar Snickers.
The first Snickers were sold in Chicago for only 5 cents.
But when it was brought to the UK, executives decided the name sounded too much like ‘panty’ and decided to rename it the ‘Marathon’ bar.
This name stuck in the UK until 1990 when Mars decided to have universal names for its products worldwide.
Hence it was called Snickers again and has been known by that name ever since.
However, some chocolate fans were so attached to the Marathon bar’s name that they refused to buy it when it was called Snickers — even though the recipe was exactly the same.
Thanks to a now world-famous advertising campaign, the popularity of the Snickers increased tenfold in 2010.
The You’re Not You When You’re Hungry campaign was launched during the 2010 Super Bowl and featured The Golden Girls actress Betty White.
Since then, stars like Joan Collins, Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean and even Elton John have appeared in commercials for Snickers with the slogan “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry”.
And the campaign helped Snickers’ sales soar by 15.9%.
As you might have guessed, the horse’s name was Snickers, so the two decided to name the peanut chocolate bar in his honor.
The bar was made in Chicago and sold for just five cents.
However, that name has always stuck – between 1967 and 1990 Snickers was actually named the ‘Marathon Bar’ in the UK.
This is because the original name rhymes with “panties”. To avoid controversy, they decided to change it.
Thankfully, in 1990 Mars wanted universal names for their products, so they changed it back to Snickers.
However, some UK fans refused to buy the renamed bar because they were so attached to the ‘Marathon Bar’ label, even though the recipe was the same.
In 1968, the full-size Snickers bar as we know it today was created after “satisfaction worldwide” increased.
After great popularity, ice bar Snickers was founded in 1989, followed by the launch of the award-winning You’re Not You When You’re Hungry campaign in 2010.
The origin of the Snickers name has been shared multiple times on Twitter, with people each responding with shock.
“I think you just ruined everyone’s childhood,” raged one in response to the news.
“Please do not specify the size of the wagon wheels.”
“I’ll still never eat one again until they’re called Marathon again,” insisted another.
“This is the kind of trivia we all need. I didn’t know that!” a third wrote.
As someone else added: “Very interesting, thanks. love story!”
4
4