M&Ms; are a staple in American culture, but how much does society about these bite-sized chocolates?
Hardly a day goes by that an M&M; commercial isn’t aired on TV. No holiday is complete without the candy-coated chocolate goodness being displayed tantalizingly in red, white and green for Christmas, pastel colors for Easter or black and orange for Halloween. And, of course, who could forget their catchy slogan “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand”?
Not only are these things completely and utterly addictive, they’ve become hot collectibles. What Christmas is complete without M&M; character toppers adorning the Christmas tree?
Whether you’re a fan or Plain, Peanut or Dark Chocolate, there’s an M&M; for almost anybody.
M&Ms; were introduced in 1940 with the first M&M; being a brown-coated chocolate-covered peanut M&M.; Shortly after the peanut version was introduced, the plain M&Ms; came out in their traditional red, brown, orange, yellow and green colors. M&Ms; become a huge hit because of its unique candy coating.
Historical M&M; Facts:
-During the 1940-50s, M&Ms; came in a violet color before it was replaced by tan.
-In 1950, M&M;’s trademark “M” was first imprinted on the candy’s shell; however, it was black instead its current white.
-In 1954, the black “M” print changed to white.
-M&M;’s became part of astronauts’ food supply on the space shuttle in 1981.
-In 1985, M&M;’s popular Christmas mix was introduced. The mix consisted of half red M&Ms; and half green ones.
-In 1987, the red M&Ms; reappeared on the market after two decades of being discontinued because the red dye scare in the early ’60s.
-Blue M&Ms; were added into the traditional mix in 1995 after the Mars company launched its successful “M&Ms; Chocolate Candies Color Vote,” in which the company implored the country to vote for a new M&M; color. The other two colors in the contest were purple and pink.
-The new blue M&M; replaced tan in the Plain and Peanut mixes and orange in the Almond mix.
Interesting M&M; Trivia:
-Over 100 million M&Ms; are consumed every day in the U.S.
-A package of Plain M&Ms; contains 30 percent brown M&Ms;, 20 percent of yellow and red each and 10 percent each of orange, green and blue.
-A package of Peanut M&Ms; contains 20 percent brown, red, blue and yellow M&Ms; and 10 percent each of green and orange.
-M&Ms; has expanded its variety in recent years to include in dark chocolate, peanut butter and miniature sized.
-M&M; launched its web site, becomeanm&m.com;, in which visitors can create an M&M; of in their resemblance.
