People are only now realising the bizarre reason behind Snickers’ name

Snickers is a household name that every chocolate lover will have tried at least once – it’s even been called “the best-selling chocolate bar in the world” by the Mars Company.

If you’ve never owned a Snickers before, you’ll at least recognize the famous slogans from their ads: “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry” and “Get some nuts!”

The iconic American chocolate bar is made of nougat, topped with caramel and peanuts and coated in milk chocolate.

It first hit the shelves in 1930, and according to the Mars Company website, it’s still “at the top.”

Despite its success, most people don’t know the unique backstory behind the chocolate bar’s name.

The bizarre backstory

It all started in 1911, almost twenty years before Snickers was born – Frank and Ethel Mars started a candy factory, which proved unsuccessful.

However, their next idea, the ‘Mar-o-Bar’ company, which later became Mars Company, was a fantastic success – their first popular product was the much-loved Milky Way chocolate bar.

The couple’s success left them with some money to splash, so they decided to buy a massive 3,000-acre horse ranch in Tennessee, according to to mashed.

Their new farm was named ‘The Milky Way Farm’ to celebrate their birthday performance.

Unfortunately, Ethel’s favorite horse died just before the nameless snickers bar went into production.

As you might have guessed, the horse was named Snickers, so the couple decided to name the peanut chocolate bar after him.

The bar was manufactured in Chicago and sold for just five cents.

Unfortunately, Ethel’s favorite horse died just before the nameless snickers bar went into production (stock image)

However, it has always been a name that stuck – Snickers was even called the Marathon Bar in the UK between 1967-1990.

This is because the original name rhymes with ‘knickers’, so to avoid controversy, they decided to change it.

Fortunately, in 1990, Mars wanted universal names for their products, so it changed back to Snickers.

Although some UK fans refused to buy the newly named bar, being so attached to the name ‘Marathon Bar’ despite the recipe being the same.

In 1968, the full-size Snickers bar we know today was created as a result of an increase in “worldwide satisfaction levels.”

After huge popularity, the Snickers ice cream bar was founded in 1989, followed by the award-winning ‘You’re not yourself when you’re hungry’ campaign in 2010.

Who is Frank Mars?

With his love of candy, he took over a candy wholesaler in Minneapolis – in the same year he married his wife Ethel

Born in 1883, Frank Mars was the founder of Mars Company – he had polio as a child and learned how to hand dip chocolate candies during his illness.

Reportedly, he loved to experiment and create new candy recipes.

At the age of 19, he discovered a talent for making molasses chips (buttercream candies) and sold them at home and to local stores.

With his love of candy, he took over a candy wholesaler in Minneapolis – in the same year he married his wife Ethel.

In 1911 he moved to Seattle and experimented with candy production – it took a few tries, but eventually The Mar-o-Bar company was born and the rest is history.

After an inspiring life in the chocolate industry, Frank died in 1933 after collapsing on the floor of his Chicago factory.