Candy Review
STRAWBERRIED PEANUT BUTTER M&MS


The Snickers Nougabot Bar isn't the only tie-in that Mars is producing in conjunction with Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. Mars is also bringing us the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms.

I must confess that this particular edition leaves me just a little puzzled. As i mentioned in my review of the Nougabot Bar, it at least has a connection of some kind to the Transformers through the yellow color of the nougat. There doesn't seem to be any particular connection between this M&Ms variation and the Transformers universe. But as I have mentioned previously, I am not a Transformers fan, so there could easily be a connection, and I am not aware of it.

This edition is a variation on the Peanut Butter M&Ms. It starts with a core of peanut butter, which is covered with milk chocolate that has been infused with strawberry flavor. This is covered with the M&Ms sugar shell. And since I have probably gone through every possible joke on the M&Ms slogan by now, I think I will let you make up one of your own.

The shells have a slightly different color scheme for this edition. There are only three colors for the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms: Red, brown (both of which can be found in the regular M&Ms bags), and a red-splotched yellow. The last one gives the appearance of something yellow that has been splattered with red paint.

The strawberry flavor in the milk chocolate is pleasant, but almost too subtle for this edition. It might have been better if Mars had made an M&Ms edition that was just strawberry-flavored milk chocolate. When the peanut butter is added to the mix, the strawberry flavor is almost too subtle, becoming almost overwhelmed by the flavor of the peanut butter. It isn't a bad combination of flavors; it's just that the strawberry flavor need to be a little stronger to make it a better balance of flavors.

Unlike the Nougabot Snickers, the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms didn't come with any Transformers Bits & Bytes. I was a little surprised, because after last year, I was rather expecting some interesting bits of trivia on the packaging of both movie tie-ins.

And since this is a limited edition, the usual disclaimers should apply. This should be around for at least the first few weeks of release for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. After that, I have no idea if Mars will ever plan a re-release. So enjoy them while you can.


-jc-

Last year, Mars included "Indiana Jones Arti-FACTS" on the back of the wrappers of the Snickers Adventure Bar. These were various bits of trivia about both the Snickers bar and the Indiana Jones movies.

This year, Mars did something similar with the Snickers Nougabot Bar they produced as a tie-in with Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. This time, they're calling the trivia "Transformers Bits & Bytes."

The Bits & Bytes follow the same general format that the Arti-FACTS did. There are two pieces of trivia on the back of each wrapper. The first is about the Transformers movies, followed by something about the Snickers bar. For some reason, though, Mars decided not to produce as many wrappers for the Nougabot bar. There are only four different Bits & Bytes, as opposed to the eight different Arti-FACTS wrappers they produced last year.

And like last year, I decided that I wanted to see all of them. With only four different wrappers, this year's search proved to require far less effort. But like last year, I want something to show for my effort. So, without any further ado, I present all of the Transformers Bits & Bytes for your enjoyment and amusement:

1. In the first Transformers movie, the Decepticons' quest for the All-Spark included a stop on Mars.
*SNICKERS Bars start at Mars, Inc., which serves more than 100 countries around the globe.

2. In the Transformers movies, Optimus Prime stands at over 28 feet tall, weighs over 17,000 pounds in vehicle mode, and is made up of over 10,000 moving parts.
*More than 99 tons of peanuts go into making 15 million SNICKERS Bars every day.

3. Energon is the primary energy source used by the Transformers.
*SNICKERS Brand quickly became one of the planet's favorite treats after its introduction in 1930 and it is still at the top, 78 years later.

4. Shooting for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen began on June 2, 2008 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
*In 1984, SNICKERS Brand represented the US well as the official snack food sponsor of the Olympic Games.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
SNICKERS NOUGABOT BAR


For the past few years, Mars has released limited editions of their product line in conjunction with various summer movie releases. Last year, it was Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Two years ago, it was Shrek The Third. This year, the movie is Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, and one of the tie-in products is the Snickers Nougabot Bar.

The Nougabot Snickers is quite similar to the Shrek Snickers bar produced a couple of years ago. In the Shrek bar, the peanut butter nougat was tinted green -- ostensibly the same verdant hue as that title character's epidermis. With the Nougabot bar, the nougat is tinted a bright yellow. (As I understand it, it's supposed to be the same color as one of the "fallen" mentioned in the title. I'm not a Transformers fan, however, so I'm just a little fuzzy on the details.) Other than the coloring of the nougat, the bar is the same as the original Snickers bar.

My first bite of a Nougabot Snickers was very careful. I wanted to take a good look at a cross section of the bar, particularly the nougat. And yes, the nougat is indeed a bright yellow; a sunshiny xanthic hue that Sinestro himself would be proud to display. (Yeah, I know, different fictional universe. It's the analogy that works best for me. Deal with it.) And I did not notice any difference in taste between the Nougabot bar and the original Snickers bar.

Just for verification, though, I gave one of the Nougabot bars to one of my co-workers, and I asked her opinion. I think she was a little put off by the color added to the nougat -- I think she prefers that the nougat stay its normal color. But when I pressed her about the taste, her reply was, "Tastes like a Snickers to me."

At the moment, I have seen the Nougabot Snickers only as bags of Minis. But we should be seeing full-size Nougabot Snickers bars on the shelves soon. After all, the movie won't even be in theaters for another couple of weeks. And since this is a movie tie-in, we should probably see it on the shelves at least through the first month or so of the movie's release. After that, it's going to disappear.


-jc-