What does M&M stand for? Despite being one of the world’s most popular snacks, people are only now learning what the M&M initials stand for.
The iconic brand has been around for a little over 80 years and is known for its small, multicoloured button-shaped chocolates.
People on social media are discussing how they had no idea what the two initials stood for.
One person on Twitter wrote: “I always thought it just stood for ‘MMMMMM!”
Another person posted: “Knowing that M&M’s were created for soldiers in WW2, I assumed M&M stood for Military Munchies. When you assume…”
“Hahaha, I thought they meant melt in mount! They coincidentally don’t melt in hand,” another wrote.
While another said: “So… today I found out that M&M’s stand for ‘Mars and Murrie’.”
That’s right, M&M stands for ‘Mars’ and ‘Murrie’, which are the surnames of the company’s two founders.
“Mmmm. So I’ve been eating Mars and Murries?” one person replied shocked.
In 1941, Forrest Edward Mars Snr and Brucie Murrie discovered the chocolate brand.
The American chocolates are clearly inspired by the British chocolate Smarties, as both are known for their colourful chocolate coating.
Mars was involved in the production of soldiers’ sweets during the Spanish Civil War.
This is where he discovered Smarties and learned what the chocolate-covered shells were for.
According to History, “Mars purportedly encountered British volunteers eating small chocolate beads encased in a hard sugar shell, which prevented melting.”
“In an age when sales of chocolate typically dropped off during summer months due to the lack of air conditioning, Mars was thrilled by the prospect of developing a product that would be able to resist melting in high temperatures.“
Mars then returned to America and began working on M&Ms with Murrie, the son of Hershey Chocolate founder Milton Hershey.
According to History, “M&Ms were originally sold in cardboard tubes and were covered with a brown, red, orange, yellow, green, or violet coating.”
“After the US entered the war, the candies were exclusively sold to the military, enabling the heat-resistant and easy-to-transport chocolate to be included in American soldiers’ rations.”
However, Mars and Murrie’s partnership ended in 1945, following World War II, when Mars bought out Murrie and became the sole owner of the company.
The same logic that made them suitable for soldiers during the war made them ideal for space travel.
M&Ms were the first sweet/chocolate to be launched into space on the NASA ship Columbia, which launched into space in 1981.
M&M isn’t the only famous chocolate from the Mars family; his father, Frank Mars, invented the Mars bar.
He is also in charge of Milky Way, Snickers, and Uncle Ben’s rice.
Featured image credit: @mmschocolate/Twitter
