The History of Snickers, the World’s Most Popular Candy Bar

It’s hard to resist the allure of a Snickers bar. With its layers of nougat, caramel, peanuts, and milk chocolate, it’s a treat that has lit up taste buds across the world for nearly a century. But have you ever wondered about the history behind this iconic candy bar? How a family, a horse, and some peanuts combined to create the single best-selling candy bar on Earth? We unwrap the full story.

Beginnings in the Roaring Twenties

The Snickers bar was introduced in 1930 by the Mars family, who were already established confectioners in the United States. Frank Mars had founded the Mar-O-Bar Company in 1911, and by the late 1920s, his Milky Way bar was already a national hit. But the family had bigger plans. And those plans, improbably, were named after a horse.

The Snickers bar was named after the Mars family’s favorite horse, a beloved animal on their ranch outside of Chicago. It was not, despite what it sounds like, named after the act of laughing quietly. Though given that the bar would go on to earn billions, someone at the ranch was probably chuckling.

The timing was peculiar. Launching a new candy bar in 1930, one year into the Great Depression, seems like questionable business strategy. But candy has always been recession-proof in a way that few products are. When everything else is falling apart, a five-cent chocolate bar offers a few minutes of genuine pleasure. The Snickers bar cost a nickel when it debuted, and for that nickel, you got a surprisingly substantial snack: nougat, caramel, roasted peanuts, all covered in milk chocolate. It was practically a meal.

A Recipe Built on Contrast

Frank Mars collaborated with his son Forrest Mars Sr. on the recipe, and what they created was a study in contrasts. The soft, pillowy nougat against the sticky pull of caramel. The crunch of roasted peanuts breaking through both. And all of it wrapped in a smooth coat of milk chocolate that held the whole messy assembly together. It’s not a subtle candy bar. It’s not trying to be elegant. It’s trying to be satisfying, and on that front, it has been wildly successful for almost a hundred years.

The ingredient balance is part of what makes Snickers work. The peanuts provide protein and fat, the nougat adds airiness, the caramel delivers sweetness with a bit of chew, and the chocolate ties it all together. There’s a reason it became the go-to candy bar for people who wanted something more than just chocolate. It’s a texture experience as much as a flavor one. Given as a treat, or even as Corporate gifts, they’re sure to please.

The Mars Company (later Mars, Incorporated) was famously secretive about its manufacturing processes. The family kept tight control over every aspect of production, from sourcing ingredients to the exact temperature at which the chocolate coating was applied. That level of obsession has kept the formula remarkably consistent over the decades. A Snickers bar today tastes almost exactly like a Snickers bar from the 1960s.

Fueling a War Effort

During World War II, Snickers found its way into the rations of American soldiers. The U.S. military was looking for compact, high-calorie foods that could withstand rough handling and variable temperatures, and candy bars fit the bill perfectly. Snickers, with its dense combination of peanuts, nougat, and caramel, was essentially a portable energy bar decades before energy bars existed.

The military’s adoption of Snickers did two things. First, it massively increased production capacity, as Mars expanded its operations to meet military contracts. Second, it introduced the candy bar to parts of the world where American soldiers were stationed: Europe, the Pacific, North Africa. When those soldiers came home, they brought their candy preferences with them, and Snickers was firmly established as an American institution.

The Marathon Bar Mystery

Here’s a bit of candy bar trivia that still confuses people: in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Snickers was sold under the name “Marathon” from 1968 all the way until 1990. Same candy bar, same recipe, completely different name. The switch to “Snickers” in 1990 was part of a global branding push by Mars, Inc. to unify the product’s name worldwide. British consumers were, predictably, not thrilled about the change. Some still call it Marathon out of principle.

The name “Marathon” was chosen originally because the British Mars team thought “Snickers” sounded too close to a rude word in British slang. Whether that’s true or just good bar-room lore depends on who you ask. Either way, by 1990, global brand consistency won out, and Marathon became Snickers everywhere.

Advertising That Stuck

Snickers has always been smart about advertising. In the early decades, the pitch was straightforward: it’s delicious, it’s filling, you should buy one. But the brand hit a cultural nerve in 2010 with the launch of the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign. The premise was simple: hunger turns you into someone you’re not (a cranky celebrity, an uncoordinated athlete, a dramatic diva), and a Snickers bar brings you back to yourself.

The campaign debuted with a Super Bowl commercial featuring Betty White playing football and getting tackled. It was funny, it was memorable, and it ran in some form for over a decade across more than 80 countries. It’s the kind of advertising that transcends selling a product and becomes something people actually talk about. The tagline entered everyday language. People started saying “you’re not you when you’re hungry” to each other without even thinking about candy bars.

Before that, Snickers had run successful campaigns for years. The 1980s and 1990s featured a series of ads positioning Snickers as the snack for active people, for workers, for anyone who needed real sustenance from their candy. The messaging was consistent: this isn’t just a treat, it’s fuel.

Innovating Without Losing the Plot

While the classic Snickers bar remains the flagship, Mars has not been shy about experimenting. Over the years, the lineup has expanded to include Snickers Almond (swapping peanuts for almonds), Snickers Dark Chocolate, Snickers Peanut Butter (a squared-off version with a peanut butter layer), and various limited editions like Snickers Hazelnut and Snickers Espresso.

There have also been size variations: Snickers Minis, Snickers Ice Cream Bars, Snickers Crisper (with rice crisps), and the absurdly large Snickers Slice, designed for sharing but frequently consumed solo. The brand has ventured into baking mixes, protein bars, and even Snickers-flavored milk. Not all of these experiments have been home runs, but the core product remains untouchable.

The key to Snickers’ innovation strategy is that none of the spin-offs try to replace the original. They exist alongside it, offering variety for people who want it while the classic brown wrapper continues to do what it has done since 1930.

Snickers and Halloween

In the United States, Snickers consistently ranks as the most popular candy bar for Halloween. It’s the top seller during the holiday, beating out Reese’s, M&M’s, Kit Kat, and every other contender. There’s something fitting about that. Halloween is the one night of the year when candy is the entire point, and Snickers, the most substantial of candy bars, feels like the premium option in any trick-or-treat bag. The fun-size Snickers bar is essentially currency on October 31st. Kids know which houses give out the good stuff, and Snickers is the good stuff.

The Numbers

Today, Snickers holds the title of the world’s best-selling candy bar, with annual global sales in the billions. Mars, Inc. produces Snickers in factories across the United States, Australia, China, the Netherlands, and several other countries. More than 15 million Snickers bars are produced every single day. The bar is sold in over 70 countries.

From its inception during the Roaring Twenties to its current status as a global icon, the Snickers bar is proof that getting the fundamentals right matters more than chasing trends. The recipe has barely changed. The appeal hasn’t changed at all. Nearly a hundred years later, it’s still a nickel’s worth of pleasure (adjusted for inflation, of course), and it still reigns supreme.

Frequently Asked Questions About Snickers

Why is the Snickers bar called Snickers?

The Snickers bar was named after a horse. The Mars family, who created the candy bar in 1930, named it after their favorite horse on their ranch near Chicago. The name has no connection to the word “snicker” meaning to laugh quietly.

What are the ingredients in a Snickers bar?

A classic Snickers bar contains four main layers: a nougat base made from sugar, egg whites, and vanilla; a caramel layer; roasted peanuts; and a milk chocolate coating. The exact recipe has remained largely unchanged since the bar’s introduction in 1930. A standard 52.7-gram Snickers bar contains approximately 250 calories.

Was Snickers called Marathon in the UK?

Yes. From 1968 to 1990, Snickers was sold under the name “Marathon” in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The name was changed to Snickers in 1990 as part of a global rebranding effort by Mars, Inc. to unify the product name worldwide. The recipe itself did not change.

Is Snickers the best-selling candy bar in the world?

Yes. Snickers is consistently ranked as the world’s best-selling candy bar, with annual global sales exceeding $2 billion. More than 15 million Snickers bars are produced daily, and the bar is sold in over 70 countries. It is also the top-selling candy bar during Halloween in the United States.

Who makes Snickers?

Snickers is manufactured by Mars, Incorporated, a privately held American company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Mars, Inc. is one of the largest privately owned companies in the world, also producing M&M’s, Milky Way, Twix, and Skittles, among other brands. The company was founded by Frank Mars in 1911.