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Mars, Inc.
This is the story of PB Max, a candy bar that had everything going for it. Except the wrong family in charge.
It’s 1989, the height of American candy variety. Mars Inc. is dominating sales with Snickers and M&M’s. But Hershey's beloved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are outselling everyone.
They decide to make their own version. They call it PB Max.
The PB Max was launched as a square-shaped whole grain cookie, topped with thick, creamy peanut butter. Not the artificial, chalky substitute found in most candy bars, but genuine, rich peanut butter.
Crunchy cookie pieces scattered on top before the entire candy bar was enrobed in smooth milk chocolate.
Imagine the crunch of the cookie, the creaminess of peanut butter, and the richness of chocolate.
Mars’ marketing team went all out. The television commercials featured a playful approach. With a wink and a smile, they told viewers that “PB” didn’t stand for piggy banks, polka bands, portly ballerinas, platinum blondes, penguin black belts, pig basketball, plow boys, pure bliss, parachuting buffalo, or pink baboons.
It stood for peanut butter. Pure. Simple.
The campaign was memorable and effective. Americans fell in love not just with the candy bar but with the cheeky advertising.
By any measure, PB Max should have been a permanent fixture in the candy aisle. Within just a few short years, this candy bar was generating $50 million in sales. That’s serious money selling candy.
Customers couldn’t get enough. They wrote letters, called stores, and even decades later would reminisce online about “the best candy bar of all time.” Many people remember the ritual of “a refrigerated cool PB Max with a big glass of milk” as the perfect snack.
The numbers don’t lie. PB Max was a hit, a success story that any candy company would kill for.
But there was a problem that no amount of sales figures could solve. The Mars family themselves.
John Mars and Forrest Mars Jr., the billionaire brothers who controlled every aspect of their candy empire. The brothers had a secret that would doom PB Max.
They hated peanut butter.
Not just a mild dislike but a deep cultural aversion rooted in their childhood. The Mars brothers had been raised in England, where peanut butter was actively despised. While American kids grew up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the Mars boys developed a preference for blood pudding.
Alfred Poe knew he was fighting an uphill battle. As a marketing director at Mars, he understood both the American market and the family dynamics that ran the company. In the early 1990s, Poe had managed what seemed impossible. Convincing the Mars family to give peanut butter a chance.
PB Max was his baby. And he was going to do anything to save it.
For a brief moment, it looked like he might win. The sales figures were undeniable, the customer loyalty was fierce, and the product was superb.
But Poe underestimated the power of the brothers.
“You want to know why Mars doesn’t make any products with peanut butter?” Poe would later reveal. “It’s because the family doesn’t eat peanut butter. They don’t like it.”
Despite the millions in revenue, despite the passionate fan base, despite every business metric pointing to continued success, the Mars family made their decision. PB Max had to go.
It didn’t matter that Americans loved peanut butter and generally disliked hazelnuts.
The discontinuation came swiftly, sometime between 1992 and 1994. With no explanation, no apologies. It was gone forever.
Today, Mars Inc. continues to dominate the global candy market with brands like Snickers, Twix, and M&M’s. Notably absent from their portfolio? Any significant peanut butter products, though they eventually, grudgingly, introduced peanut M&M’s after a decade of internal resistance.
The company still prefers hazelnuts and continues to operate with the same secretive, family-first mentality that led to the downfall of PB Max.
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