Real reason behind Snickers name is not what people thought

Do you know why a Mars bars called a Mars bar? No, it’s nothing to do with the planet. It’s because its creator was Forrest Mars.

But why’s a Snickers bar called a Snickers bar? Well now we’ve got the answer for that too. Made by the same brand, Mars Inc, the Snickers name actually goes back to the name of a horse which belonged to the founders of the Mars company Ethel and Frank. The story goes that the couple had invested in land and bought a 3,000 acre horse breeding farm while the then-named Mar-o-Bar company was planning on creating a new candy. They had an idea of what they wanted to do with the chocolate bar, but they had no idea what to name it – that is, until their favourite horse, Snickers, tragically died. To pay tribute to their horse, they decided to name the new chocolate bar after him and so, Snickers was born. Snickers first appeared in stores back in 1930 and sold for just five cents across the US. Coated in milk chocolate and topped with caramel and peanuts, the bar was a hit in the States. That said, executives in the UK were initially nervous that the name of the bar could be too similar to ‘knickers’ and cause controversy in the rather conservative Britain of the 30s and 40s. That’s why Snickers was initially called a Marathon Bar in the UK and Ireland. In 1990, however, Marathon became Snickers once more and the Mars family horse of the 1930s was finally honoured again.

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