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When Marathon became Snickers
For many British adults it will always be a Marathon. The switch to Snickers came in 1990.
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The Snickers bar, peanuts, caramel and nougat covered in milk chocolate, was created by Mars in the United States in 1930 and named after the Mars family's favourite horse. But in Britain and Ireland, for decades, it had a different name: Marathon.
Marathon
Mars sold the bar in Britain and Ireland under the name Marathon. Generations of British children grew up with it, and to many people Marathon was simply what the bar was called. Confusingly, Marathon was also the name of an unrelated bar sold in the United States in the 1970s.
The switch
In 1990 Mars changed the name in both Britain and Ireland to Snickers, so that the bar would have the same name everywhere in the world. Plenty of people still call it a Marathon.
Why companies do it
Global brand names make advertising, packaging and planning simpler for multinational companies: one name, one logo, one campaign. For shoppers, though, the old names carry memories. The same thing happened when Opal Fruits became Starburst in 1998: see Opal Fruits. We have gathered the other renamings in sweets that changed their names.
A retro return
Nostalgia is powerful enough that the old name has come back, briefly. In 2019 a Marathon retro edition was sold exclusively at the supermarket Morrisons for three months.
Named after a horse
The Snickers name itself comes from the stables. Frank Mars, the founder of the company, loved horses and built a vast estate, Milky Way Farm, in Tennessee. The bar was named after the family's favourite horse. See Frank Mars and the Milky Way.
Still a Mars family bar
Snickers is now sold around the world, made by the family firm behind the Mars bar, M&M's and Maltesers. For the story of the family that owns it, see the mystery of the Mars family.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
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Questions and answers
When did Marathon change to Snickers?
In 1990, in both Britain and Ireland, so the bar would carry the same name as everywhere else.
Why is Snickers called Snickers?
It was named after the Mars family's favourite horse.
Can you still buy a Marathon bar?
Only briefly: a Marathon retro edition was sold at Morrisons for three months in 2019.
Sources
- Snickers, Wikipedia
- Starburst (candy), Wikipedia
Keep reading
- British heritage sweetsOpal FruitsOpal Fruits were launched by Mars in Slough in 1959 and renamed Starburst in the UK in 1998. They were made to make your mouth water.
- Stories, heists and recordsSweets that changed their namesMarathon became Snickers, Opal Fruits became Starburst, Dime became Daim and Peace Babies became Jelly Babies. The sweets that changed their names, and why.
- The people behind the sweetsFrank Mars and the Milky WayFrank Mars learned to dip chocolates at his mother's side while ill with polio, failed in business once, then created the Milky Way and Snickers.
- The people behind the sweetsThe mystery of the Mars familyThe Mars family owns one of America's biggest private companies and almost never talks. A father and son feud, a bar born in Slough, and a hidden fortune.
- British heritage sweetsMidget gemsMidget Gems are small, firm fruit gums loved in the north of England. In 2022 Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Maynards Bassetts renamed them Mini Gems.
- Sweet scandals and controversiesHow Cadbury was sold to KraftIn 2010 the American food giant Kraft bought Cadbury for £11.5bn after a hostile bid. How a British institution was sold, and why it still stings.