7 Things You Need To Know Know Before You Eat M&Ms

1. They were created for a very practical reason.

Although the candies are now only found in truly fun places, M&Ms were apparently dreamed up in the most unexpected spot: the battlefield. As the story goes, Forrest Mars saw soldiers in the Spanish Civil War eating pieces of chocolate covered in a sugar coating. When he realize that the coating was preventing the chocolate from melting, he filed his own patent to manufacture chocolate that way. (He secured the patent in 1941.)

2. The commercials are beloved.

The brand has always been known for it’s amazing commercials. In the 1970s, it launched a spot that used a spin on Sammy Davis Jr.’s famous “Candyman” song:

In the 80s, the catch phrase “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand” set the world on fire:

The 90s brought the personification of the candies—M&Ms were introduced as cute little characters in a super-charming way:

Today, the yellow and red M&Ms are the stars—and they’ve secured themselves in the commercial hall of fame with this holiday favorite:

3. Some famous people voice those characters.

There are six different characters that represent the brand—but yellow and red M&Ms seem to get all of the air time, and the glory. To that end, most people don’t know that both characters have been voiced by some famous actors.

Guys who’ve voiced yellow:

John Goodman:

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NBC


J.K. Simmons

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Lester Cohen

Guys who’ve voiced red:

Billy West (a.k.a. The voice of Ren & Stimpy)

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L. Cohen

Jon Lovitz

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Gary Gershoff

FYI: Vanessa Williams voices the Brown M

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Nicholas Hunt

4. There have been some weird flavors.

Most people know the basics: milk chocolate and peanut (which debuted in 1954). If you’re fancy, you might prefer one of the fringe flavors, which are now part of the standard 10—dark chocolate, peanut butter, almond, dark mint, dark chocolate peanut butter, pretzel, crispy, and MEGA (a giant M&M that’s three times the size of normal). But over the years, the company has released some unusual twists. Some of our picks for most bizarre/awesome:

Strawberry Shortcake

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M&M’s

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms

Flickr/TheImpulsiveBuy

Hot Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate M&Ms

M&Ms

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie M&Ms

M&Ms

Candy Corn

candy corn m and ms
M&Ms

5. The brand makes a bar.

Worth mentioning: you can get a chocolate bar that’s sprinkled with M&M Minis. It’s like the best of both worlds. How did we not realize this was a thing?

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Courtesy of M&M

6. The company is crowd-sourcing its next big hit.

Knowing that the fans tend to go nuts over new releases, company execs are allowing them to choose the next flavor to remain on the roster. Three new flavors—chili nut, honey nut, and coffee nut—are hitting shelves now, and customers are being asked to buy/vote for their favorite.

7. M&Ms were once museum-quality.

Okay, that’s a slight stretch. But in early 2012, the company unveiled the Museum of Chocolate Art in the Soho area of New York City. It featured 20 different commissioned pieces of art that were created in milk chocolate.

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