Mid-Week Mini: How M&Ms Were Built for Battle

In this week’s Mid-Week Mini Episode, we talk about how M&Ms Were Built for Battle.

You know those little colorful candies that somehow survive being tossed around in your pocket, spilled in your car, or melted under the summer sun? M&Ms weren’t originally made for kids—or even for casual candy lovers. They were invented for soldiers.

During World War II, the U.S. military faced a surprisingly sweet problem. Chocolate rations were popular among troops, but regular chocolate has one fatal flaw: it melts. In the heat of battle—or even just in a soldier’s pocket on a long march—plain chocolate would turn into a sticky, unusable mess. Something had to change.

Enter Forrest Mars Sr., son of the founder of the Mars candy empire. He had an idea: what if you could coat chocolate in a hard shell to protect it from heat and handling? But he didn’t do it alone. He teamed up with Bruce Murrie, the son of a Hershey executive—yes, a candy dynasty collaboration in the middle of wartime. The two men combined their expertise: Mars’ candy-making genius and Murrie’s chocolate know-how. The result? Small chocolate pellets coated in a thin, candy shell. The shell prevented the chocolate from melting, made it easy to transport, and even allowed soldiers to stash them in their pockets or ration kits without any mess.

They named them after their initials—M and M—and sent the candies straight to the front lines. Soldiers loved them. They were portable, durable, and, most importantly, sweet morale boosters in the middle of chaos. Imagine a grueling march in the North African desert or a long day in the trenches, and suddenly you get a handful of candy that’s not just edible but perfectly intact. That little chocolate pellet became a tiny taste of home, a reminder of normal life in the middle of war.

After the war, the candies didn’t stay in military rations. They quickly became a hit with civilians, first in movie theaters, then in stores nationwide. The candy that was literally built to survive heat and rough handling turned out to be perfect for everyday life too. Today, M&Ms are everywhere, but it’s worth remembering that their design wasn’t just a marketing gimmick—it was an innovation born out of necessity for soldiers on the battlefield.

Next time you toss a handful into your mouth, or spill some on your desk and marvel at how the candy somehow stays intact, remember: it was designed to survive a soldier’s pocket. And thanks to a bit of wartime ingenuity, it’s survived every desk drawer, backpack, and hot car ride you’ve ever thrown it into too.

The internet says it’s true.