M&M Chocolate Candies

1. The M&M Patient
2. WWII Favorite
3. American Classic
4. 1954
5. A Rainbow Of Candy Coating
6. To The Moon Alice
7. On Dasher, On Prancer
8. Back In The Red
9. What A Character
10. The Big Green Myth
11. M&M Hoax

1. The M&M Patient

A truly epic story, the secrets of M&M's origin were set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. Legend has it that during a trip to Spain, Forrest Mars Sr. encountered soldiers who were eating pellets of chocolate encased in a hard surgary coating. The coating was to prevent them from melting. Inspired by this idea, Mr. Mars returned to his kitchen and subsequently invented the recipe for M&M's Plain Chocolate Candies.

2. WWII Favorite

The candies were first sold during 1941 and soon became a favorite of American GI's serving all over the globe during the mayhem of World War II. The candies were packaged in cardboard tubes and sold to the military as a convenient snack that traveled well in any climate.

3. American Classic

By the late 40's the candies were available to the general public with excellent reception. By 1948, the cardboard tube gave way to the brown pouch they now come in today. With the advent of television in the 50's, M&M's became a household name and by 1954, the infamous yellow-pouched beefier Peanut M&M's were introduced to rave reviews.

4. 1954

That was the year the famous slogan, "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand" debuted with M&M's first TV commercials.

5. A Rainbow Of Candy Coating

In 1960, they added the colors: red, green and yellow to the mix. Then in 1976, the color orange was added to the peanut version. Later that year, red was pulled out of the lineup due to a controversy surrounding a specific red food coloring, however the type of red was not used in M&M's but they yanked the color anyway.

6. To The Moon Alice

In 1981, M&M's became an official food on board space shuttle flights. M&M's are now on permanent display at the space food exhibit at the NASA Museum in Washington, DC.

7. On Dasher, On Prancer

The now commonplace holiday versions of M&M's were first unleashed during the '80's.

8. Back In The Red

1987 saw the reintroduction of the cornerstone color red. M&M's now come in 21 different colors: Black, Dark Green, Purple, Green, Pink, Silver, Dark Pink, Yellow, Blue, Dark Blue, Red, Light Purple, White, Cream, Orange, Aqua Green, Gold, Maroon, Teal Green, Brown and Light Blue.

9. What A Character

The M&M Characters debuted in 1972 and now include Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange and the mythic Green.

Here are the Character's official M&M File Bios:

Red

Age: He says thirty-something, but we're checking.
Weight: Perfect for his shell size.
Turn-ons: When people blindly follow his wise advice.
Turn-offs: When people fail to recognize his obvious leadership abilities.
Best Friend: Yellow (they got their shells together).
Best Attribute: Genius I.Q. and physical speciminity (best of both worlds).
Shortcomings: Thinks he knows more than he does.
Appearance: Red, round and ALL chocolate.
Hidden Talent: Can turn simple chores into complicated tasks.
Quote: "Gimme a break."

Yellow

Age: Unknown. But he is in touch with his inner child.
Weight: Average for a peanut with milk chocolate padding.
Likes: Pretty ladies and fluffy things.
Best Friend: Red, because he seems to know a lot.
Best Attribute: Sees the good in everything.
Appearance: Yellow, plump and all smiles.
Shortcomings: Nice guys finish last.
Quote: "Inside everyone there's a little nut."

Orange

Age: Stress makes him look older than he is.
Weight: He doesn't eat. He doesn't sleep.
Turn-offs: People who want to eat him (a turn-off for anyone).
Dream: To be put on the endangered species list.
Best Attribute: Looks both ways...repeatedly...even when not crossing the street
Shortcomings: Thinks everyone is after him. (He's probably right).
Appearance: Orange and always looking over his shoulder.
Hidden Talent: Can always spot the hungry person in the room.
Quote: "I'm a dead man."

Blue

Age: Old enough.
Weight: Lets just say he keeps fit.
Turn-ons: Moonlit nights, Jazz, the ladies.
Turn-offs: Anyone with an attitude problem. (It can be fixed.)
Best Attribute: Confidence.
Appearance: If you're lucky, he might make one.
Hidden Talent: Can outfox would-be snack fiends.
Quote: "Never let 'em see you melt."

Green

Age: Old enough to know better.
Weight: How dare you!
Turn-ons: Simple candlelit dinners... in Paris.
Turn-offs: Men and women who stare.
Best Attribute: Honey, I can't choose. That's your job.
Appearance: Beauty of this magnitude can't be described with words.
Shortcomings: Can sometimes be intimidating.
Quotes: "I melt for no one."

10. The Big Green Myth

What is it about green M&M's anyway? Here are a few possibilities posted by the Mars Corp.

A. Its aphrodisiac qualities were discovered in the early '70's by a pack of randy male coeds looking for an alternative to Spanish fly.

B. A certain perm-bearing early '80's rock star had it in his contract that 3 lbs of Greens backstage for, uh, "inspiration" or he wouldn't "perform."

C. Greens have been requested on 31 space shuttle flights. According to unofficial reports, the astronauts wanted to keep that lovin' feeling when traveling so far away from home.

D. What myth?

11. M&M Hoax

In the days leading up to New Years Eve 2000, many bugs and viruses circulated the web in conjunction with the Millennium Bug. Since MM means 2000 in Roman numerals, M&M's campaigned to be considered the candy of the new Millennium, a harmless but misleading hoax email made its way into inboxes all over the web.

Subject: FREE M&M's

Message:
Have some fun-this is not a hoax. Hi. My name is Jeffrey Newieb. I am a marketing analyst for M&M's chocolate candies based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. As the year 2000 approaches, we want to be the candy of the Millennium - As you may already know, the roman numeral for Y2 is MM. We are asking you to pass on this e-mail to 5 friends. Our tracking device is calculating how many e-mails you send out. Every time it reaches 2000 people, you will receive a free case (100 individual 55 gram packs) of delicious M & M candies. That means the more people this reaches, the more candy you're going to get. Mmmmmm... Yummy M&Ms the year 2000!! Remember, nothing but no M&M's will come your way if you do not share this with at least 5 people.