Goodbye To The King Size: Mars To Downsize Candy Bars In 2013

npr.org ^ | February 15, 2012 | Allison Aubrey

[John W]

Ready to say goodbye to a sliver of your Snickers? And how about a slightly slimmer Mars bar? By the end of 2013, chocolate-maker Mars says all of its chocolate bars will be under — or right at — the 250-calorie mark.

With all the fixation on our civilization's expanding waistlines, it's not that there are bad foods, just big foods. That means you won't be seeing lower-calorie chocolate or caramel — just less of it.

And the company says it wants to be an industry leader, helping its customers enjoy "responsible snacking." It sort of reminds me of beer manufacturers' campaigns for responsible drinking.

[I see my hands]

This is what it looks like, citizens. While you're fussing and fidgeting over this pol and that somehow you accommodate the boot on your neck.

Slaves don't have the luxury of pretending they follow a philosophy. Time to quit being conservatives and start being free men.

[Pinkbell]

You could write their ads! :-)

[DarkWaters]

Pathetic. The PR department is out there talking about respectable eating and such when this move is anything but that. It is about the bottom line of the company and nothing else. Look at the price of raw ingredients, they are up and anyone in the business knows that they are going to continue to go up. They have to pass on the cost to the consumer, but that isn't as easy as it sounds. This is why they reduce cost in more creative ways that you will notice less. We have seen it with other items such as Ice cream half gallon containers (they where reduced in size twice from my recollection), and such. Consumers more readily notice price increase than the others and those price increase will trigger a cut down on what they buy or stop buying all together but there is of course a limit to quantity/weight reduction and hence why they tag on to these “health campaigns” which is the slight of hand trick. I don't blame them either as they have to run a business in this type of environment much of which is caused by government in the economy but I just cannot stand the disengenousnous of how they go about an do it. The break down of any moral, ethic, and basic decency is just spreading like wild fire, but that is what ultimately happens in an inflationary environment.

[9YearLurker]

Sign for it? Pfft! I want to see your photo I’d!

[patriot08]

[kearnyirish2]

Just another symptom of our cultural denigration; now I know how Europeans feel.

[gogogodzilla]

The reality is that all the ingredients of a candy bar are increasing in price. So, by shrinking the size of the candy bar, Mars can sell you less for the same price...

...and make you think that they are doing so for your own benefit.

(Like P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”)

[gogogodzilla]

Ordered one over the weekend.

http://www.cafepress.com/+i_am_not_a_number_dark_tshirt,508145961

[Gator113]

But will they still cost only a nickel??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhlfy5Gc2nM

[patriot08]

Hershey Foods Corporation acquired Luden’s brands from the Dietrich Corporation, a successor to Food Industries of Philadelphia, in 1986.[6] For many years, the bar included two whole almonds on top of the bar but these were taken out in the 1990s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Avenue_(candy)

Butterfinger- Curtis Candy Co
Their first confectionery item was Kandy Kake, later refashioned in 1921 as the log-shaped Baby Ruth. Their second confectionery item was the chocolate-covered peanut butter crunch Butterfinger. In 1931 Curtiss marketed the brand by sponsoring famous air racer, John H. Livingston, in the Baby Ruth Aerobatic Team flying the air-racer Howard “Mike” at airshows, and sponsoring Livingston’s Monocoupe racer in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race.[1] [2]

In 1964, Standard Brands purchased Curtiss Candy Company. Standard Brands merged with Nabisco in 1981. In 1990, RJR Nabisco sold the Curtiss brands to Nestlé.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Candy_Company

In 1986, Hershey’s began a brief foray into cough drops when it acquired the Luden’s cough drops brand. But by 2001, the brand had been sold to Pharmacia,[22] and Luden’s eventually became a product of Prestige Brands.[23] Hershey’s kept Luden’s 5th Avenue bar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hersheys

Interesting analysis of candy:
http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/candybars

[Right Wing Assault]

Ah, more “fun size” candy. What a gyp! When I was a kid, candy bars were the size of blackboard erasers. Now they are like credit cards.

I noticed recently that a piece of facial tissue is going toward the “fun size,” too.

I don’t feel like buying anything anymore!

[desertfreedom765]

Funny how hard it is for some people/companies/government to be honest these days.

Just admit that costs are rising and be done with it.

[desertfreedom765]

Funny how hard it is for some people/companies/government to be honest these days.

Just admit that costs are rising and be done with it.

[VermiciousKnid]

My favorite candy bar!

And still readily available here in the People’s Republic of NY.

Regards,

[patriot08]

LOL Good for you.
The best candy bar ever made, 5th Avenue, is rarely to be found here in the People’s Republic of Corpus Christi, Tx.

[RedMDer]

[AZLiberty]

During the Nixon price controls, the cheese slice on the Filet-O-Fish became so thin you could see through it. It has never recovered.

[SeaHawkFan]

That’s why I not longer buy the the packages of mini bars that came 8-10 in a sleeve. Used to be a nice two-bite snack. It’s now barely one bite.

[unkus]

I’ll go back to the regular size. 6 for about $3.60.

[boop]

Maybe I'm hallucinating my younger years, but didn't Mars bars used to be two piece?

My dad always told me stories about how Hershey bars used to be "huge" when he was a kid. I thought he was just making up old-timey tales, but he was right. I had no idea that Bazooka gum was anything but scored in the middle. I know it's thinner nowadays, but I remember my dad taking out his old trusty pocketknife and splitting it with me so we could both enjoy a nice chew.