Do you know what the M&M initials stand for on the famous chocolate candy?
For a chocolate that has been around for 81 years, it’s amazing how few people don’t know where they got the name from.
Well, the first ‘M’ stands for ‘Mars’ and the second ‘M’ stands for ‘Murrie’.
Mars as in Forrest E Mars Sr. and Murrie as in Bruce Murrie – the two founders of the US based chocolate brand.
Mars, was the son of Frank C. Mars – the founder of the Mars company.
Apparently, Forrest Mars was the genius behind the M&M’s design as he wanted a chocolate button that did not melt as easily, so came up with the idea to create a hard shell coating.
After the start of World War Two in 1939, Mars predicted that they may end up with a shortage of chocolate. So, in 1941 Mars teamed up with the president of Hershey‘s William F.R.Murrie’s son, Bruce Murrie who got a 20% stake in the brand.
The new M&M design meant that soldiers in the war could easily keep a pack in their pocket without fear of them melting. The chocolate’s slogan was:
“Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”
You learn something new everyday!
