Butterfinger

Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by US based Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It is manufactured internationally by Nestlé.[1] It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a chocolate-like coating; the coating is not eligible to be described as chocolate, as it contains no cocoa butter.[2][3] Butterfinger was invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923. A popularity contest chose the name.

In its early years, the Butterfinger was promoted by Shirley Temple in the 1934 film Baby Take a Bow. It was advertised by characters from The Simpsons (most notably Bart Simpson) from 1988 to 2001.

History

Advertising

Beginning in 1988, Butterfinger was advertised with The Simpsons, still a series of shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show at the time. The first commercial was the advertisement "The Butterfinger Group", which featured the debut of the character Milhouse Van Houten. The Simpsons was immediately popular and boosted the candy's popularity. In 1992, the Simpsons began to appear in Butterfinger BB's commercials. The Simpsons-Butterfinger marketing was phased out by 2001 but brought back in 2010.

Butterfinger campaigns include counting down the end of the world or BARmageddon, with evidence such as the first-ever, QR shaped crop circle in Kansas, a Butterfinger comedy-horror movie called “Butterfinger the 13th,” the first interactive digital graphic novel by a candy brand starring the Butterfinger Defense League, and several attention-grabbing April Fool's Day pranks, including the renaming of the candy bar to "The Finger".[15]

On April 1, 2008, Nestlé launched an April Fool's Day prank in which they claimed that they had changed the name of the candy bar to "The Finger", citing consumer research that indicated that the original brand was "clumsy" and "awkward". The prank included a fake website promoting the change that featured a video press release.[16] When the joke was revealed, the website redirected visitors to the fictitious "Butterfinger Comedy Network".

In 2009, a new advertisement for Butterfinger was produced that appeared to be a homage to the earlier The Simpsons commercials. In February 2010, Butterfinger revived its "Nobody better lay a finger..." slogan as "Nobody's gonna lay a finger on my Butterfinger".[17]

In April 2013, an official announcement via the Twitter account of The Simpsons stated that the "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger" advertising campaign featuring Bart Simpson would be returning.[18] In the opening sequence of "Treehouse of Horror XXVIII" (2017), the family appeared as candy in a bowl. Bart, a "Barterfinger" bar, tells his mother, Marge, a "Marge Bar", he is scared, and she comforts him by stating he was always the last to be taken.

In May 2024, the Simpsons returned for Butterfinger's 100th anniversary. Bart and Homer were featured on single and two-pack wrappers while the whole family was on Fun Size packaging.[19]

Variations

Bites: In 2009, Butterfinger introduced Mini Bites, a product with small, bite-sized pieces of Butterfinger.

Snackerz: Butterfinger Snackerz was another bite-sized, smooth-centered version of the candy bar.

BB's: Starting in 1992, another form of Butterfinger bars was available named "BB's". Similar to Whoppers and Maltesers, they were roughly the size of marbles and sold in bags. They also were advertised by the Simpsons. It was discontinued in 2006 and was relaunched in 2009 as Butterfinger Bites.

Buzz: During the height of the energy drink craze in 2009, a two-piece ‘king size’ version of the candy bar containing 80 milligrams of caffeine was released with limited distribution.[22] The wrapper bears this warning: "Contains 80 mg per package (40 mg per piece), as much as in the leading energy drink. Not recommended for pregnant women, children or persons sensitive to caffeine." They were quickly discontinued.[23]

Ice Cream Bar: A product with an ice cream filling, the Butterfinger Ice Cream Bar, was introduced in 1991 and continues to be sold in individual bags to this day. Another product similar to that of Butterfinger Ice Cream Bars, but shaped in a nugget form, also was developed in 1992 and is now discontinued.

Crisp: Nestlé also produced Butterfinger Crisp bars, which are a form of chocolate covered wafer cookie, with a Butterfinger flavored cream. This is part of a line of Nestlé products under a "crisp" name, including Nestlé Crunch Crisp and Baby Ruth Crisp.

Cocoa Mix: Nestlé released a hot cocoa mix with the flavor of the Butterfinger bar. The packaging advertises the cocoa as having a chocolate and peanut butter taste.[24]

Cups: In 2014, a product similar to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups was introduced by Nestlé, the Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup, which unlike Reese's Cups, has both crunchy and creamy peanut butter and covers the mix with milk chocolate.[25] It was the first new Butterfinger product introduced in more than five years. Nestlé spent two years developing the product.[26] However, they were discontinued in 2018 when the bars were sold to Ferrero SpA.

Naked: The Naked Butterfinger is a version of the standard size candy bar that will only have a coating of chocolate on the bottom to hold it together.

Dark: Made with Dark Chocolate. They were discontinued in 2018 when the bars were sold to Ferrero SpA.

Bits: Crumbled Butterfinger bars, produced for consumers to bake their own Butterfinger dessert recipes.

Use by other manufacturers

Butterfingers are used in a part of Edy's Fun Flavors line (branded as Dreyer's west of the Rocky Mountains and outside the United States). The product is vanilla ice cream with a peanut butter swirl and bits of the Butterfinger candy bar in it.

Grocery store Kroger has a flavor in their "Jammed" line named Peanut Butter Candy Crunch that is a peanut-flavored frozen dairy dessert with Butterfinger chunks and a peanut butter swirl whose flavor resembles that of the Butterfinger candy bar.

type	Candy bar
currentowner	Ferrara Candy Company (US) (since 2018) Nestlé (International)
origin	United States
introduced	1923
previousowners	Nestlé (US) * Curtiss Candy Company (1923–1964) * Standard Brands Inc. (1964–1981) * Nabisco (1981–1985) * RJR Nabisco (1985–1988) * Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (1988–1990) * Nestlé (1990–2018) * Ferrero Group (since 2018)
website	https://www.butterfinger.com/

History

Recipe change

Advertising

Sponsorships

Variations

Use by other manufacturers

See also

External links

References