Spotted! M&M’S Vending Machine in Netherland. Our favorite chocolate!
History of M&M
M&M originated in the United States in 1941, inspired by a method used to allow soldiers in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) to carry chocolate in warm climates. The company’s longest-lasting slogan reflects this: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”
Fun Facts about M&M’s
- The two ‘M’s represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate’s president William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product. The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.
- M&M’s had become so popular by 1950 that an ingenious solution for consumers to distinguish the real M&M’s from inferior imitators was to stamp each candy with the now famous “m”.
- The letter “M” was printed on the candy in black ink until 1954; now it’s printed in white.
- In 1972, the colorful characters first appeared on packaging, helping with M&Ms brand awareness.
- Green’s shoe-wear, her Go-Go boots, was chosen due to early drawings of the character showing her with less than flattering ankles.
- She joined the M&Ms pack as a character in 1997, while Red, Blue, and Yellow had been introduced back in 1995.
- M&M’s Chocolate Candies are made in New Jersey and Tennessee, and became internationally available in the 1980s
- Over 400 million M&Ms are produced each day.
- MEGA M&Ms in both milk chocolate and peanut varieties were introduced in 2014
- The Crispy variety, a limited edition from 1998, was brought back by popular demand and is now a part of the regular line up
- Pretzel M&Ms were released in 2010, with Orange becoming its spokescandy.
- Blue M&Ms weren’t always a thing. In 1995 a marketing event asked Americans to vote on a new color to appear in the traditional M&M’s Chocolate Candies mix.
Source
- spoonuniversity.com
- justfunfacts.com