M&M's is the brand name of a color-varied sugar-coated, dragée chocolate confectionery made by the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars Inc. since 1941. The confection consists of a candy shell surrounding a filling that determines the specific type or variety. Each piece has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side. They are produced in different colors, some of which have changed over the years.
The original confection of this brand had a semi-sweet chocolate filling that upon introduction of other varieties, was branded as the "plain, normal" variety. The first alternate variety to be introduced was the Peanut M&M in 1954. It featured a peanut coated in milk chocolate and finally, coated with a candy shell. It still remains a regular variety. Numerous other varieties have been introduced, some of which are regular widespread varieties (peanut butter, almond, pretzel, crispy, dark chocolate, and caramel) while other varieties are limited in duration or geographic availability.The confection came into production in the United States in 1941 and has since been sold in more than 100 countries. It was conceived in partnership between Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie (representing the "M" and "M"), the son of the president of the rival Hershey Chocolate Company. Murrie sold his minority share in the venture to Mars in 1949. M&M was likely inspired from Smarties that Mars may have encountered during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). A sugar coating made it possible to carry chocolate in warm climates without it melting and that characteristic eventually prompted his company's longest-lasting marketing slogan that became, "the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand".
History
1940–70s: Beginnings In the 1930s, Forrest Mars Sr., son of the Mars Company founder, Franklin Clarence Mars, saw soldiers in the Spanish Civil War eating Smarties, a British candy then made by Rowntree's. The candy has a chocolate interior protected by a colored shell of hard panning (hardened sugar syrup), preventing the chocolate confection from melting.
On March 3, 1941 in the United States, Mars received a patent for his own process. When his confection company was founded it was entitled, M&M Limited. The two Ms represent the last names of Forrest E. Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie, the son of the Hershey Chocolate Company 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 at the time, Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate in USA. Production of the confection began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey.
Nestlé archives note that George Harris of Rowntree did not attempt to sue Mars for stealing the concept for Smarties and that after much negotiation, Harris and Forrest Mars Sr. agreed to share the marketplace rather than to compete, with Rowntree making Mars Bars in Canada, Ireland, and South Africa and with Mars making the sugar-coated confection in the United States without competition from Smarties.
The company's first big customer was the U.S. Army, which saw the invention as a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate in tropical climates without it melting. During World War II, the candies were exclusively sold to the military. The resulting demand caused an increase in production and the company moved its factory to bigger quarters at 200 North Twelfth Street in Newark, New Jersey. In 1958, the company moved to a bigger factory at Hackettstown. A second factory was opened in Cleveland, Tennessee, in 1978. Today, about half of the production of the confection occurs at the New Jersey factory, and half at the Tennessee factory.
In 1949, the brand introduced the tagline "the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand". In 1950, a black "M" was imprinted on the candies giving them a unique trademark. It was changed to white in 1954. In the early 1950s, the Midwest Research Institute, now MRIGlobal, in Kansas City, Missouri, worked on behalf of the confection company to perfect a process whereby of chocolate centers could be coated every hour.
A peanut variety was introduced in 1954 and appeared only in the color tan. In 1960, the company added the yellow, red, and green colors.
In the 1960s, an almond-centered variety was marketed and then withdrawn until a later reintroduction twenty years later.
In 1976, the color orange was added to the mix to replace red, which was discontinued in response to the "red dye scare" over Red Dyes #2 and #4 having been evaluated as carcinogenic. Although the M&M's confections were made with the less controversial Red Dye #40, the public was wary of any food being dyed red. The red variety was reintroduced in 1987.
1980s: Expanding internationally
In the 1980s, the confections were introduced internationally to Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. M&Ms Royals were marketed in the early 1980s with an advertising campaign that said: "Now chocolate's got a whisper of mint." They were colored pale green or brown and showed a crown rather than an M&Ms logo.
Holidays Chocolate Candies for Easter and Christmas were launched in 1986, with the Easter confection having a bunny, chick, and egg symbols on pastel-colored shells and the Christmas confection having pine tree, bell, and candle symbols on red and green shells. The green shells had a special mint flavor. By 1993, the holiday symbols were replaced with the standard trademark "M".
In 1988, the almond-centered variety once offered in the 1960s became available again in limited release, with appearances only during Christmas and Easter times. They became a standard part of the product line in 1992.
1990s: New flavors ring In 1991, the Peanut Butter variety was released. These candies have peanut butter inside the chocolate shell and the same color scheme as the other varieties of the confection. As of at least 2013, the size of the peanut butter M&M has become slightly smaller. In 1995, tan M&Ms were discontinued to be replaced by blue. To introduce the new color, the Home Shopping Network televised a promotional video for the blue M&M. Producer Jon Watson became the first man to wear the famous blue M&M suit.
During the 1990s, Europe first began to adopt the M&M's brand name, replacing existing products. Two of these products were known as "Treets" and "Bonitos". In 1996, Mars introduced "M&M's Minis", smaller confections usually sold in plastic tubes instead of bags. In 1999, Crispy M&Ms were released. They were slightly larger than the milk chocolate variety and also featured a crispy wafer center. The Crispy variety was discontinued in the United States in 2005, before being reintroduced in 2015 and re-discontinued in 2022 to make way for the Crunchy Cookie flavor. They remained available in Europe and Australia.
2000s–present: New flavors and re-releases In July 2001, the dulce de leche variety was introduced in five markets with large Hispanic populations: Los Angeles, California; San Diego, California; Miami, Florida; McAllen-Brownsville, Texas; and San Antonio, Texas. The product never became popular with the Hispanic community, who preferred existing varieties, and the variety was discontinued in most areas by early 2003.
Several other varieties of M&M debuted throughout the 2010s. These include a Pretzel variety released in 2010, a limited edition Coffee Nut variety released in 2016, another Caramel variety released in 2017, a limited edition English Toffee variety released in 2019, and a limited edition Hazelnut Spread variety also released in 2019.
A range of additional products was launched in the 2000s and 2010s to expand beyond the traditional line of candies. A chocolate bar called the M-Azing was initially released in 2004, and relaunched in 2013, Oversized confections entitled the "Mega" variety were briefly released in 2007 to promote the Shrek film series, before being introduced as a standalone product in 2014. M&M cookies began to be sold in the United States in 2016. M&M chocolate blocks were released in Australia in 2017.
In 2020, a Fudge Brownie variety was released in the United States. They were discontinued in April 2024.
In September 2022, the introduction of a purple variety was announced, as well as their newest "spokescandy", Purple.
Mars, Inc. announced the introduction of a new variation of its iconic M&M's candies produced entirely without artificial dyes, starting in August 2026. The product rollout was timed alongside the brand's 85th anniversary.
Ingredients A traditional milk chocolate M&M weighs approximately 0.91 grams / 0.032 ounces.Per M&M/Mars FAQ, How many candies are in a bag? mymms.com It has approximately 4.7 calories (kcal) of food energy (1.7 kcal from fat).By calculation from M&M's nutrition info page. Contrary to a misconception held by some, each colored M&M does not have a different flavor. All possess the same chocolate taste.
Marketing Over the years, marketing has helped build and expand the M&M's brand. Computer-animated graphics, personification of the confections as characters with cartoon-like storytelling, and various merchandising techniques including the introduction of new flavors, colors, and customizable merchandise have helped to increase the brand's recognition as a candy icon.
In 1982, the Mars candy bar company rejected the inclusion of the confection in the new Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. However, competitor Hershey took a chance with their Reese's Pieces that are similar, but contain a peanut butter filling. With the film's blockbuster success, Reese's Pieces sales dramatically increased, perhaps by as much as 300%.
Marketing campaigns Between 1982 and 1987, the company slogan was "All the World Loves M&M's", accompanied by a television jingle of the same name. Actor Joel Higgins, then co-starring in the NBC-TV sitcom Silver Spoons, co-wrote the song.
In 1990 at New York's Erie County Fair, the company exhibited a life-size fiberglass cow covered with 66,000 M&M candies—each adhered by hand with the "m" logo on each candy facing outward. According to a website run by the cow's designer, Michael Adams, the stunt earned M&M Mars $1 million in free publicity because it was reported on by Newsweek magazine, as well as the New York Post, UPI, WABC-TV, and Live with Regis.
In 1995, the company ran M&M's Color Campaign, a contest in which participants were given the choice of selecting purple, blue, or pink as the color of a new variety of the confection. The announcement of the winning color (blue) was carried on most of the network television news programs, as well as the talk shows of David Letterman and Jay Leno. As part of the contest results, the company had the Empire State Building lit up in blue. Although the financial details of these deals were not disclosed and neither was the effect of the campaign on sales, one marketing book estimated that the company "collected millions" in free publicity and that the campaign "certainly" resulted in an increasing of brand awareness.
In 1996, Mars produced Christmas-themed advertisement for the confections in which the Red and Yellow characters run into Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Similarly to competitor Hershey's own Christmas-themed commercial. The commercial proved immensely successful and has re-aired every December since, becoming their longest-running television commercial.
Since MM is the Roman numeral for 2000, the confections were styled as "The Official Candy of the New Millennium" in 1998. This date was also the release of the rainbow variety that are multi-colored and filled with an assortment of different fillings.