Mars Bar
From Free net encyclopedia
The Mars Bar or Mars is a chocolate bar manufactured by Mars Incorporated. It is made of chocolate-malt nougat topped with a layer of caramel and covered with milk chocolate. In the United States, it is known as the Milky Way bar. There was a Mars bar in the United States, but it was discontinued in 2000. (See section below.)
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History
Australian Recall
In July 2005 the Mars Bar eating community in Australia was threatened by an anonymous blackmailer, claiming to have poisoned 7 Mars and Snickers Bars at random in New South Wales as an extortion attempt against the Star City Casino in Sydney. As a result Masterfoods Corporation, the company that manufactures Mars Bars in Australia, recalled the entire Mars and Snickers product from store shelves in New South Wales, at great distress to many of the eating public. 19 people were possibly affected, with 2 being admitted to hospital.
In the latter half of August 2005 the threat to the public was deemed negligible and the bars returned to shelves at joyful relief from the community heralded by a state-wide advertising blitz incorporating the slogan "Feels good to be back".
Spin-offs
Image:Mars midnight.jpg Image:Mars Midnight Ice Cream.jpg
In the UK and some areas of Europe, limited edition Mars Bars have occasionally gone on sale. One of these has been the Mars Midnight, which has the same filling as a normal Mars Bar but is covered in dark chocolate. Mars Midnight Ice Cream using dark chocolate is a recently introduced variation on the Mars Ice Cream Bar. Several of these limited lines were normally available products in the Australian market.
- Mars Almond
- Mars Midnight
- Mars Dark and Light
- The Miniature Celebrations
- Mars Delight.
- Mars Mini Eggs (Available around easter time.)
- Mars Ice-Cream.
- Mars Midnight Ice Cream
- Mars Drink
- Deep fried Mars Bar - Hard to find anywhere else other than Scotland (literally fried in batter)
United States Mars Bar
The Mars Bar was introduced in the United States in 1936. It contained nougat and almonds topped with caramel and covered with milk chocolate. It remained on the market until 2000 when it was renamed the Snickers Almond bar. Elsewhere in the world, it is known as the Mars Almond bar.
Jamie Farr of the television show M*A*S*H endorsed the U.S. Mars bar in commercials during the 1980s.
During Operation Red Dawn (December 2003), in which the U.S. military captured former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, they apparently found a stash of the chocolate bars near the former president.
Trivia
Rock group The Undertones released a song called 'Mars Bars', which has several references to the product. The UK advertising slogan "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play" is incorporated into the song's lyrics.
When an advertising agency coined the above phrase, one of its employees was Murray Walker, later famous as a motor racing commentator. The phrase is often erroneously attributed to him, although in reality it was merely his decision to use it.