Before I even tried Mars’ Fling, I was already smiling. The wrapper says “Naughty, but not that naughty.” Oh really? Do go on. The website explains that though the Fling is made of “premium chocolate” this little pleasure won’t make you feel too guilty because each finger of the Fling is only 85 calories.
Well, the packaging is fun and the concept is intriguing, but how’s the flavor? I tried two kinds of Flings: the milk chocolate and the hazelnut.
Each finger looks similar to a Twix, so I was expecting that kind of crunch and consistency. Wrong! Airy, whipped chocolate rests on a very light, brittle honeycomb-like bar, and then the whole thing is coated in chocolate. When I bit into it, the Fling snapped and crunched audibly. But the crunchy bit isn’t anything like the cookie crunch of a Twix – it’s hard to explain the texture except to say that the whole thing is really, really airy. I found them really fun to eat – unusual, and interesting.
Another guest review from our friend Laura Kaspick.
Like fellow Candy Addicts Caitlin, Robbie, and Laurie, I recently had the pleasure of attending the All Candy Expo. One of the products I was most excited to get my hands on was the Limited Edition Coconut M&M’s. As soon as the show floor opened, I eagerly made my way to the Mars booth to get myself a sample. Imagine my disappointment when I was told they wouldn’t be available at the Expo! Although I did recover (it’s pretty tough to be in a bad mood when surrounded by free candy), I was still thinking about my loss when I attended a Mars press conference later that day.
Midway through the presentation, Mars president Todd Lachman turned his focus to upcoming product releases, including the Coconut M&M’s. I half tuned him out as I wasn’t interested in hearing about Coconut M&M’s, I was interested in eating Coconut M&M’s! But I quickly snapped to attention when I heard “…and actually, here in my pocket, I happen to have a sample…” and then which lucky member of the audience do you think he threw them to??? ME!!!! I couldn’t believe my good fortune, and now I am going to share my good fortune with you by telling you what you have to look forward to when they come out this summer.
Though a new limited edition flavor of M&M’s is nothing out of the ordinary, I was surprised by Mars’ latest release of Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M’s, an upcoming promotion for the newest Transformers film.
When I think of limited edition M&M’s, I immediately think of variations on either the original or peanut variety. In fact, I was so expecting this to be the peanut sort that it wasn’t until after I tasted them that I asked myself “Where’s the peanut?”
You rarely see Mars play with the almond or peanut butter M&M’s flavors, leaving all their marketing and sales to the more popular varieties. I mean, I can’t even remember the last time I saw a commercial for peanut butter M&M’s. So when I discovered it was one of their less-advertised flavors that was being given a limited edition makeover, I was pleasantly surprised.
I picked up a complimentary bag of these at the All Candy Expo, but I have also seen them in drugstores, so they’re readily available for purchase.
Well, Day 1 of the All Candy Expo is officially over, so I thought I’d share with you the most amusing part of the day. At the Mars press conference, we got to see this very funny “public service announcement” featuring Neil Patrick Harris. It’s part of the Real Chocolate Relief Act we reported on a couple of weeks ago.
Just to refresh your memory: from now until September, Mars is giving away 250,000 free coupons for full size chocolate on Fridays at realchocolate.com. That’s a total of 7 million bars of free chocolate! In addition, there will be special events at various cities, and some great savings on Mars chocolate at your local stores. So go check it out and enjoy some good Mars chocolate – still mockolate-free!
The economy sucks and pigs are being blamed for zombie attacks (wait, did I get that swine flu thing wrong?), but luckily Mars has come up with a way to help everyone out. No, they’re not bailing out any banks or handing out surgical masks; instead, they’re giving away free chocolate. And lots of it!
In a campaign unleashed on the world this past Thursday, Mars has started giving away full size chocolate bars to unsuspecting passersby, in addition to unveiling their Free Chocolate Fridays program at www.realchocolate.com. Through the end of September, you can register on Fridays to receive one of 250,000 available coupons for a Mars chocolate bar. You have to be quick, though – if you take more than 5 minutes to register, you won’t get it. Registration starts at 9am on Fridays and ends at midnight (assuming all the coupons aren’t gone long before).
So forget your money troubles and germophobia and go get yourself some free chocolate. What could be sweeter?
