The Extraterrestrial Candy War: Mars vs. Hershey
April 8, 2011
The 1982 movie, E.T. became a classic. It was a Spielberg movie.
There is a scene where a boy lures the little space creature out of its hiding place with candies.
But which candies? Reese's Pieces.
Spielberg's company first approached the Mars Corporation -- ironically -- because of M&M's. Did the company want a tie-in to the movie? The company said no. "Spielberg? Who's Spielberg?"
So, Spielberg's company approached Hershey. Would they like a tie-in? You bet!
This story appears on the Snopes site, the main site for checking out stories that seem too good -- or too bad -- to be true. This one is true. Within weeks of the movie's release, sales shot through the roof: http://bit.ly/ETcandy.
One screener rejected the suggestion. Another screener accepted it. That made all the difference.
E.T. went home. Reese's Pieces stayed behind, melting in people's mouths, not in their hands.