Chocolate lovers are only just realising the bizarre reason behind Snickers' name

Alongside the likes of Galaxy, Mars and Dairy Milk, there is no question Snickers is a household name among chocolate lovers.

While many other chocolate favourites have had some famed slogans over the years, some that have popped up from Snickers will surely never be forgotten.

From 'get some nuts' to 'you're not you when you're hungry', these are slogans that will be remembered by chocolate fanatics forever.

But while we may focus on the unique advertising of chocolate bars, outside of buying and eating them, we don't always pay attention to much else.

Made of nougat, topped with caramel and peanuts in a delicious milk chocolate, there is no wonder we don't stop for a second to ponder where the name came from when it comes to eating this chocolate treat.

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Many people don't even know the truly unique backstory behind the Snickers' name, despite eating the chocolate favourite for years.

It all started in 1911 when Frank and Ethel Mars started a sweets factory, which unfortunately for them turned out to be unsuccessful.

However, it was probably for the best as they later founded 'Mar-o-Bar', a company that later turned into Mars Company.

The brand immediately blew up with their first product, Milky Way, with it becoming an instant hit.

As per Mashed, Frank and Ethel had a bit of cash to splash after their initial success, so purchased a huge 3,000-acre horse breeding farm in Tennessee.

They appropriately named the farm after the Milky Way chocolate bar and kept a number of horses there.

But sadly, Ethel's favourite horse died in 1930, just before a nameless chocolate bar from the company was set to go in production.

You may have guessed, but the horse was called Snickers, so Frank and Ethel decided to name their new bar in his honour.

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Snickers hit the shelves at a retail cost of five cent in Chicago back in 1930.

However, Snickers was known as the Marathon Bar in the UK between 1967 and 1990, before changing to its original horse-honoured name.

The reason why the peanut chocolate bar wasn't called Snickers in the UK you ask? Well, because it sounded a bit too similar to 'knickers'. Yep, that's right.

The Marathon Bar did for sure become a household name in the UK, so some were actually disappointed it left after so many years.

I mean, the bar was named after a much-loved family horse after all, and they had to carry on the horse's legacy somehow, right?

Topics: Food And Drink, Weird, History

Callum Jones

@CallumJ2709