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Mars, Inc.
In 1977, Mars had a vision for what would become Summit Cooke Bars. But they didn’t anticipate it would literally melt in their hands.
It’s 1977, and Mars Inc. executives are sitting in a boardroom, staring at market research that showed consumers craving something new. Not just another chocolate bar. Not just another cookie. Kind of like a bridge of both worlds.
What did they come up with? Summit Cooke Bars.
The name wasn’t accidental. “Summit” evoked adventure, achievement, and reaching the peak. The logo used M’s designed to look like mountains, with the dot over the ‘i’ transforming into a sun.
The candy bar itself?
The slogan that captured America’s imagination:
“You’ll love it ’cause it’s chocolate, peanuts and...light!”
Summit bars were a hit when they launched in 1978.
Consumers loved the hybrid concept. Here was a candy bar that felt lighter, crunchier, better than the heavy chocolate slabs dominating store shelves. Kids bought them for 25 cents plus a penny for tax on their way to school. Adults grabbed them during fitness-focused bike rides (yes, Summit actually marketed to the jogging-and-jazzercise generation).
But something was wrong.
Really wrong.
“They melted. And I mean, melted fast. They didn’t even wait for your hand, they melted right there in the package.”
The irony was crushing. This was Mars. The company famous for M&M’s that “melt in your mouth, not in your hands.”Yet their new premium product was doing exactly the opposite.
Some consumers had to store Summit bars in their freezers. A candy bar that required refrigeration? Not exactly convenient for impulse purchases.
While Summit Cookie bars were melting on shelves, Mars president Howard L. Walker was cooking up bigger plans.
In a 1981 Washington Post interview, Walker laid out his vision: Mars wouldn’t just compete with other candy companies anymore. They were going after the entire snack market. Estimated at $45-50 billion.
“We define our competition as not only candy but all sweets, snacks, pies, cakes, ice cream, the whole savory snack market.”
But first, they had to fix the melting problem.
Mars doubled down with a complete overhaul of Summit Cookie bars in 1983:
The marketing team was confident. Consumer panelists were... less impressed.
“More gimmicky than substantive,” they said.
The reviews were mediocre. The melting problem persisted. But Mars wasn’t giving up.
What happened next in the mid-1980s was unprecedented in the history of candy marketing.
Mars launched the most ambitious, forward-thinking campaign the industry had ever seen:
Television Campaigns
A KFC Partnership
The most surprising move? Mars partnered with Kentucky Fried Chicken to cross-promote Summit bars. Imagine walking into KFC in 1984 and seeing Summit bar advertisements alongside your bucket of chicken.
Food Stamps
Here’s where it gets really interesting. Mars actually lobbied to make Summit bars eligible for purchase with EBT (food stamp) cards. The campaign targeted low-income communities with premium candy.
Despite generating approximately $40 million in revenue, Summit Cookie bars were struggling.
The fundamental physics problem remained unsolved. The bars still melted too easily. Store owners complained. Consumers were frustrated. And Mars was learning a hard lesson.
Marketing professor Robert E. Linneman, documenting the failure in his 1991 book “Making Niche Marketing Work,”captured the corporate philosophy that sealed Summit’s fate:
“Mars banked on a handful of products and shunned small niches. For example, Mars killed its Summit bar...”
Even with $40 million in sales, Summit wasn’t a blockbuster. And Mars only wanted blockbusters.
The end came not with a bang, but with a corporate shrug.
Production quietly halted. Store shelves emptied. That distinctive mountain-logo wrapper disappeared from candy aisles across America.
What killed Summit Cookie Bars?
It wasn’t lack of innovation. Mars had created something genuinely new.
It wasn’t lack of marketing. Their campaigns were groundbreaking.
It wasn’t lack of sales. $40 million proved consumer demand.
It was strategic impatience.
Mars wanted another Snickers, another M&M’s. They wanted products that would generate hundreds of millions, not tens of millions. This is why they discontinued Summit Cookie Bars in 1991.
An ode to Summit Cookie Bars. Gone but never forgotten. 1977-1991.
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