Why Candy Bars Have Such Weird Names (And Why They Still Work)

Why Candy Bars Have Such Weird Names (And Why They Still Work)

Candy bars sound like they were named by horses, Victorian poets, and someone yelling across a factory floor.

Which… is basically true.

In the early 1900s, candy companies weren’t branding products, they were naming sugar rectangles fast enough to survive industrialization.

No testing. No strategy decks. Just vibes, accidents, and whatever was lying around.

That’s how we got:

Snickers — Named after a horse owned by the Mars family. Imagine inventing a billion-dollar product and naming it after your horse. Power move.

Milky Way — Named after a popular malted milk drink, not the galaxy. Space was collateral damage.

Kit Kat — Traces back to an 18th-century British literary club called the Kit-Cat Club, which sounds fake but isn’t, and somehow became chocolate.

3 Musketeers — Originally had three flavors in one bar. Then capitalism happened.

Oh Henry! — Allegedly named after someone shouting “Oh, Henry!” whenever a delivery boy walked by. Zero proof. Maximum vibes.

Baby Ruth — Probably named after President Grover Cleveland’s daughter. Definitely not Babe Ruth. Probably. Maybe. Still unclear.

Reese’s is the only normal one. A guy named Reese made peanut butter cups and just… said his name. Wild concept.

What these names share isn’t logic. It’s emotional familiarity.

They’re short. Friendly. Slightly nonsense. They don’t tell you what’s inside, they tell you how you’re supposed to feel.

Safe. Comforted. Younger.

That’s why candy bars haven’t needed rebrands in decades. You don’t buy a Snickers because you’re hungry. You buy it because your brain recognized the noise.

Weird names fade. Familiar ones stick. That’s the whole game.