Mars Wrigley UK has responded to the curious case of a smooth Mars bar lacking its signature ripple, which was discovered by 34-year-old broadcaster Harry Seager from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Seager found the unique chocolate bar at a service station in Oxfordshire while traveling to a classic car exhibition in Birmingham with friends. Noticing the bar was smooth and devoid of its famous ripples, he was puzzled by the strange bulges on the confectionery product.
Seeking answers, Seager contacted Mars Wrigley UK to understand why the bar was smooth. He wanted to know “what industrial process might have caused the ripple to not be on the top” of the chocolate bar, as The Guardian reported. However, he was frustrated by the company’s lack of explanation for the bar’s imperfection. “They were very secretive about it, like they instantly went on to the compensation, yeah, rather than tell me what the manufacturing defect was.”
Despite the lack of detailed information from the company, Mars Wrigley UK sent Seager a £2 ($2.50) voucher as compensation. Expressing his reaction to the compensation, he remarked, “I think £2 is great; it will get me two free Mars bars. Maybe they could have sent me more, but I’m not ungrateful. I think it’s amazing, after everything that happened, to have received the £2 voucher,” as he told BFMTV.
To share his unusual find, Seager posted a photo of the smooth Mars bar in the Dull Men’s Club Facebook group. The case began buzzing on social media, with widespread attention from the group ensuring that his find gained media attention throughout Britain. The post attracted the interest of thousands of users, and ironic comments about the bar’s appearance were abundant. BBC News reported that some users called it “hideous”, “disturbing”, and “ugly”. One internet user commented that the bar was “pre-licked, that’s all”, as mentioned by BFMTV, while another suggested that “the rippler must have been on vacation.”
Members of the Dull Men’s Club offered insights into the manufacturing process behind Mars bars. Seager said, “Apparently they get blown with air along the top as it comes out of that waterfall. Apparently there’s meant to be somebody at the end who removes the ones which haven’t been hit by the air,” as reported by the Mirror. Some users, including those who used to work at Mars factories, told him that the bar had escaped being blown by air by a machine called an enrober, which creates the signature ripple on Mars bars.
Mars Wrigley UK addressed the situation in a statement. “With more than 2.5 million Mars bars produced daily in our factory, it seems Mr. Seager’s bar had slipped through without its signature flourish,” the company said, as per BBC News. They assured fans that the ripple isn’t going away. “While we can’t reveal all the secrets behind our product line, we can promise fans that these ‘smooth’ Mars bars are a rare find and the classic swirl isn’t going away,” the company stated, according to World.
Reflecting on the experience, Seager expressed some frustration at the company’s reluctance to explain the defect. “That is all I wanted to know and they kept side-lining that question,” he said, as reported by LIFO. Nevertheless, he remained positive about the incident and saw potential in the novelty of defective chocolates. “[It’s a] bit like buying broken biscuits, isn’t it? They should do broken chocolate bars. That’s a good idea,” Seager suggested, according to The Guardian.
Despite the missing ripple, Seager ate the Mars bar and found that it tasted the same. “It tasted the same. It just was a lot thinner on top, that’s all—not quite as thick,” he said, aligning with his earlier statement reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He added, “In fact, I had forgotten about it, and then the next day I remembered it,” as mentioned by LIFO.
Mars bars have been a staple in the United Kingdom since they were first made by hand in Slough, Berkshire, in 1932, and they continue to be manufactured there today, according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. They are among the most popular chocolate bars in the country.
While Mars Wrigley UK’s response may have left some questions unanswered, Seager seems content with the outcome and the unexpected attention his discovery received. “I think £2 is great; it will get me two free Mars bars. Maybe they could have sent me more, but I’m not ungrateful,” he told BFMTV. The unusual incident not only sparked a bizarre social media reaction but also highlighted the public’s fascination with the quirks of everyday products.
