3 Musketeers candy bars used to come in three flavors. It was made in the United States and Canada by Mars Incorporated.
It consists of chocolate-covered, fluffy, whipped nougat. It may be surprising to know that it initially came in a variety of flavors. Read on to find out more…
History of 3 Musketeers Candy
Introduced in 1932, the 3 Musketeers Bar was the third brand produced and manufactured by M&M/Mars. Originally, each bar contained three flavors hence the name, which was derived from the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
Rising costs and wartime restrictions on sugar saw the vanilla and strawberry pieces phased out, leaving only the more popular chocolate.
The bars cost five cents when they were introduced, and they were marketed as one of the largest chocolate bars available.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the introduction of the candy bar, Mars introduced 3 Musketeers Mint, the first brand extension, in August 2007.
Also in 2007, Mars produced a limited-edition “Autumn Minis Mix” 3 Musketeers. It featured French Vanilla, Mocha Cappuccino, and Strawberry.
This was followed by Cherry 3 Musketeers for 2008, Raspberry 3 Musketeers, and Orange 3 Musketeers for Easter 2008. Orange was coated in milk chocolate, while the cherry and raspberry were coated with dark chocolate.
In 2019, Mars released their latest flavor, the 3 Musketeers Birthday Cake.
The next candy bar Mars created was the ever-popular Snickers bar in 1930, with the 3 Musketeers candy bar being added to the lineup two years later in 1932.
The 3 Musketeers is made up of nougat and chocolate, and according to Pennsylvania State University, the nougat consists of whipped egg whites that are sweetened, flavored, shaped into rectangles and dipped in chocolate.
Interestingly, nougat candy bars were commonly eaten frozen because nougat has a similar texture and flavor to ice cream. The 3 Musketeers bar is still made the same way today, but it wasn’t always one big candy bar.
The Three Flavors of the 3 Musketeers Candy
According to Pennsylvania State University, the original 3 Musketeers candy bars actually consisted of three smaller pieces of candy that were each a different flavor of nougat.
One was chocolate, one was vanilla, and one was strawberry, hence the meaning behind the name 3 Musketeers.
Back in the 1930s, one package of 3 Musketeers, with all three flavors, was just five cents. However, the three flavors weren’t around for long.
Because of the sugar ration in the United States during World War II, it became too expensive for Mars to continue producing all three flavors.
From 1945 on, the 3 Musketeers bar was produced as one large candy bar with just the most popular nougat flavor, chocolate.
However, Mars sometimes introduces new 3 Musketeers flavors. For example, Mars created a mint 3 Musketeers flavor in 2007 in honor of the 75th anniversary of the candy bar’s creation.
Per Candy Retailer, 3 Musketeers also came in several other limited edition flavors, such as French vanilla, mocha cappuccino, strawberry, orange, cherry, and raspberry.
Advertisement of the 3 Musketeers
According to a press release from Mars, Incorporated, the most recent special flavor was released in 2019 and was a birthday cake flavor.
3 Musketeers was advertised on television on the 1950s-era Howdy Doody show, along with a song that Buffalo Bob Smith encouraged children to sing.
In 1998, the bar’s advertisements featured three men dressed as the legendary Three Musketeers to market the “45% less fat” campaign.
The advertising campaign was developed by Will Vinton Studios, whose previous works include the M&M’s characters, The Noid and The California Raisins.
The product’s original slogan of “Big on Chocolate!” was expanded in these advertisements to “Big on Chocolate, Not on Fat!”[citation needed]
In 2015, Mars, Incorporated debuted a marketing campaign in the form of a YouTube channel.
The campaign was developed and directed by the advertising agency Tribal Worldwide, who explained the project as an effort to establish relevancy and recognition among Generation Z.
The campaign has encountered mixed reception. Many marketing insiders have described the campaign as an example of influencer marketing, whereby personalities or “influencers” can more effectively advertise to an audience that trusts them than an expensive corporate advertising campaign.
Nutritional Value
A standard-size 3 Musketeers bar (60 g) has 257 kilocalories (1,080 kilojoules) of food energy, 7 grams of total fat, and 40 grams of sugar, while the mini-size bar (serving size 41 g) has 179 kilocalories (750 kilojoules), 5 grams of total fat, and 27 grams of sugar.
Flavor list
- Original 3 bar-Chocolate (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry), 1932–1945
- Chocolate with filling, 1945–present
- Birthday Cake, 2019
- Mint, 2007
- “Autumn Minis” – Cappuccino, French Vanilla and Strawberry, 2007
- Cherry, 2008
- Raspberry, 2008
- Orange, 2008
- Chocolate Strawberry Brownie, 2008
- Chocolate Brownie Bar (Generation Max series)
- S’Mores Brownie Bar (Generation Max series)
- Truffle Crisp
- Marshmallow, limited edition Minis, Easter 2011 and 2012
- Coconut, 2011
- Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow, Christmas 2012
Summary
The 3 Musketeers candy has a special taste. Hence, it is similar to the global Milky Way bar as well as the American version of the Milky Way bar (only without the latter’s caramel topping).
