3 Musketeers is a

candy bar A candy bar is a type of portable candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate wi ...

made in the United States and Canada by

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services founded on June 23, 1911, headquartered in McLean, Virgini ...

. It is a candy bar consisting of chocolate-covered, fluffy, whipped

nougat Nougat refers to a variety of similar confections made from a sweet paste hardened to a chewy or crunchy consistency.. The usual version in Western and Southern Europe is made from a mousse of whipped egg white sweetened with sugar or ho ...

. 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 Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

topping).

History

Introduced in 1932, the 3 Musketeers Bar was the third brand produced and manufactured by M&M/Mars. Originally, each bar contained three flavors—

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

—hence the name, which was derived from the 1844 novel ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' by

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

. 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 Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

, 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, and Raspberry 3 Musketeers and Orange 3 Musketeers for

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

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.

Manufacturing

The candy is made of a whipped nougat

mousse A mousse (, ; ) is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savory. as early ...

formed into very large slabs, which are cut to size and enrobed in milk chocolate. The nougat chocolate center is made by whipping egg whites until they are light and frothy. Sugar syrup is then added, stabilizing the foam and creating mousse. Other flavoring ingredients are then added to the mousse to create specific flavors. The candy is made in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

;

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania Elizabethtown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Betzischteddel'') is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located southeast of Harrisburg, the state capital. Small factories existed at the turn of the 20th century when the p ...

; and

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto Area, Greater Toron ...

Marketing

3 Musketeers was advertised on television on the 1950s-era ''

Howdy Doody ''Howdy Doody'' is an American Children's television series, children's television program (with circus and Western (genre), Western frontier themes) that was created and produced by Victor F. Campbell

'' show, along with a song that

Buffalo Bob Smith Robert Emil Schmidt (November 27, 1917 – July 30, 1998), nicknamed Buffalo Bob, was an American radio and television personality and presenter; he was well known as the host of the children's show ''Howdy Doody''. Biography Early life and radio ...

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 William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his wor ...

, whose previous works include the M&M's characters,

The Noid The Noid is an advertising character for Domino's Pizza created in the 1980s and briefly revived several times. Clad in a red, skin-tight, rabbit-eared body suit with a black N inscribed in a white circle on his chest, the Noid is a physical mani ...

and

The California Raisins The California Raisins were a fictional rhythm and blues animated musical group as well as advertising and merchandising characters composed of anthropomorphized raisins. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. The California Raisins ...

. The product's original slogan of "Big on Chocolate!" was expanded in these advertisements to "Big on Chocolate, Not on Fat!" In 2015, Mars, Incorporated debuted a marketing campaign in the form of a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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 Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...

. The campaign has encountered mixed reception. Many marketing insiders have described the campaign as an example of

influencer marketing Influencer marketing (also known as influence marketing) is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, individuals and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or so ...

, whereby personalities or "influencers" are able to more effectively advertise to an audience that trusts them than an expensive corporate advertising campaign. A common misconception regarding the Three Musketeers bar and Milky Way bar is that on release the two candies had their respective labels swapped in manufacturing. The explanation given is that the Milky Way bar's three ingredients in the US (chocolate, nougat, and caramel) were originally meant to represent the three musketeers. However the Milky Way bar was released in the US in 1924, and the 3 Musketeers bar was released in the US in 1932, disproving this urban myth.

Nutritional information

A standard-size 3 Musketeers bar (60 g) has of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals and humans derive from food to sustain their metabolism and muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohydrates, fats, and protein ...

, 7 grams of total fat, and 40 grams of sugar, while the mini-size bar (serving size 41 g) has , 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 *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,

2011 and 2012 *Coconut, 2011 *Hot Chocolate with marshmallow, Christmas 2012 *Birthday Cake, 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:3 Musketeers (Confectionery) Chocolate bars Mars confectionery brands Products introduced in 1932 Brand name confectionery The Three Musketeers