Origins of Snickers

• Frank and Ethel Mars apparently named this candy bar after their horse. A snickers bar was sold for a nickel at this time. In 1949, the Snickers brand became the official sponsor of The Howdy Doody Show. The Snickers bar is the most popular selling candy bar in the world. Over 15 million Snickers bars are manufactured every day, resulting in an annual profit for Mars of about $2 billion.

Snacklish Advertising Campaigns

• Snickers has always been at the forefront of advertising. In 2008, Snickers was criticized by The Human Rights Campaign for an ad featuring Mr. T that was deemed homophobic. Snickers immediately pulled the ad globally. One ad campaign, based on an invented language called "Snacklish," involves linguistic puns appearing on the Snickers label, like the ad featured on NYC taxicabs reading "Snaxi" or the poster "Get a Degree in Snackanomics."

Nutritional Information About Snickers

• A traditional size Snickers candy bar (2 oz) contains 266 calories, 98 calories from fat. A Snickers contains 11 grams of fat, 130 mg. of sodium, 8 mg. of cholesterol, 37 grams total carbohydrates, and 5 grams of protein.

Varieties of Snickers Bars

• In addition to the traditional milk chocolate Snickers bar, Mars also makes a dark chocolate variety, as well as Snickers Almond, Snickers Marathon Energy Bar, Snickers Dark, and Snickers Charged, which contains caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins. The Snickers "fun size" was first sold in 1968. Snickers is also available as an ice cream flavor, and many people eat deep-fried Snickers bars.

Additional Products by Mars Inc.

• In addition to the Snickers line, Mars Inc. produces M&M candy, the Milky Way bar, Uncle Ben's Rice, Sheba, Pedigree, and Whiskas.