Milky Way (chocolate bar)

The Milky Way bar's North American variant is made of nougat topped with caramel and covered with milk chocolate. It was created in 1923 by Frank C. Mars and originally manufactured in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the name and taste derived from a then-popular malted milk drink (milkshake) of the day, not after the astronomical galaxy.[1][2]

On March 10, 1925, the Milky Way trademark was registered in the US, claiming a first-use date of 1922.[3] In 1924, the Milky Way bar was introduced nationally, with sales totalling $800,000 that year. The chocolate for the chocolate coating was supplied by Hershey's.[4]

By 1926, two variants were available: chocolate nougat with milk chocolate coating, and vanilla nougat with a dark chocolate coating, each selling for 5¢. In June 1932, the bar was marketed as a two-piece bar, and four years later, in 1936, the chocolate and vanilla were separated. The vanilla version, with a dark chocolate coating, was called "Forever Yours," marketed until 1979.[5] In 1989, Forever Yours was reintroduced and renamed "Milky Way Dark" and later "Milky Way Midnight".[6]

In 1935, Mars used the marketing slogan "The sweet you can eat between meals,"[4] later using "At work, rest and play, you get three great tastes in a Milky Way." By 2006, Mars used the slogan "Comfort in every bar" in the US and most recently "Life's better the Milky Way."[7]

In 2010, the Milky Way Simply Caramel bar went on sale, a version with caramel covered in milk chocolate and without nougat. In 2011, Mars introduced a small size (marketed as fun size) Simply Caramel bar.

In 2012, Milky Way Caramel Apple Minis went on sale as a limited offer for the Halloween season.

In late summer of 2018, Milky Way Fudge, which substitutes the malt nougat with chocolate fudge nougat, was introduced nationwide.[8]

The American Milky Way bar has 240 calories in each 52.2 gram bar; the smaller Milky Way Midnight has 220 calories in each 50 gram bar; and the Milky Way Simply Caramel bar has 250 calories in each 54 gram bar.[9]

The US version (left) and global version (right) of Milky Way

The US and global bars each feature different types of filling.

The version of the bar sold outside the United States has no caramel topping, and consists of a nougat center that is considerably lighter than that of the Mars bar. Due to this low density (0.88 g/cm³), it floats in milk, an attribute highlighted in an advertising campaign in Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK.[11]

Originally available within Europe only in chocolate flavor, the center was revised to vanilla flavor around 1993, though the chocolate flavor still remains available in Australia. The bar is also available in banana, mango, and strawberry flavors.

In the UK, Mars introduced the Flyte bar which was identical to the old-style chocolate flavored Milky Way, was marketed in twin packs and discontinued in 2015. Also available in Europe are Milky Way Crispy Rolls, chocolate-covered wafer rolls with milk-cream fillings.

A variant of the Milky Way bar branded 'Milky Way Magic Stars' is marketed in the UK, with small aerated chocolate star shapes. Each star is engraved with a different smiley face, representing one of the magic star characters portrayed on the packaging and referenced in the advertising: Pop Star, Jess Star, Bright Star, Super Star, Twinkle Star, Falling Star, Happy Star, Sport Star, Clever Star and Baby Star. Subsequently, reference to the characters was dropped.

Calorie count varies. The British version of the Milky Way bar has 96 calories.

Marketing

Milky Way floating in milk

A long-running advertising slogan for the product in the United Kingdom and Australia was, "The sweet you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite".[12] In 1991, the Health Education Authority and anti-sugar lobbyists both complained, without success, to the Independent Television Commission that such advertising encouraged children to eat sweets between meals. The ITC agreed with Mars that its advertisements in fact encouraged restrained eating.[13]

Once marketed as a snack food that would not intrude on regular meals, modern marketing portrays the Milky Way as a snack reducing mealtime hunger and curbing the appetite between meals.[14]

A widely known advertisement was debuted in 1989, featuring a red 1951 Buick Roadmaster and a vehicle that resembles a blue 1959 Cadillac Series 62 (lacking its iconic fins or dual headlights) racing, with the former eating everything in sight and the latter eating a Milky Way. The advert ends with the now fat red car falling through a bridge and the blue car winning the race. The edited advert re-aired in 2009, removing the claim that the Milky Way isn't an appetite spoiler.[15]

Milky Way adverts in the 1990s emphasized the bar's lightness, depicting the bar floating in milk. The European variant will float in milk, while the denser US version will not.

• List of chocolate bar brands

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milky Way (confectionery).

• Milky Way bar website (US)