Call them buzz bars.
The newest crop of candy bars comes loaded with extra caffeine, innuendo, celebrity endorsements and, of course, chocolate.
First up is Snickers Charged, amped up with as much caffeine as a shot of espresso, plus taurine and B vitamins. Think energy drink with chocolate, peanuts and caramel nougat.
Next up: Dale Jr.'s Big Mo' bar, with caramel or peanut butter fillings. It's aimed at all generations of NASCAR fans, unlike retired legend Junior Johnson's newest offering, Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine.
Sweets for your sweetie? For Valentine's Day, M&M's are going for the groin with an all-green package flirting with the pop culture legend that the green ones are candy-coated aphrodesiacs.
Coming in March: Starbucks-branded candy bars from the Hershey Co. The deal with the coffee giant should bring some welcome buzz to Hershey's, which is struggling with lower profits, dropping market share and criticism from law enforcement for making mints that look like street drugs. (Hershey's announced last week it will stop making nickel-sized Ice Breakers Pacs, which police said children could confuse with heat-sealed packs of cocaine and the like.)
Why a wave of new bars? Like many food manufacturers, candy companies turn to limited-time offerings and twists on familiar names to grow sales. If demand is high enough, as it was for dark chocolate M&M's, the product returns.
Snickers Charged and Twix Java, from Mars North America, will be produced through the end of March. That company is already seeing spot shortages of green M&M's, the Valentine's Day item.
The Starbucks-Hershey's deal could help the coffeehouse chain finally break into the chocolate market it's been chasing for years. And Junior's bar harks back to a sports-candy connection with nearly a century of success.
Want proof? Pick up a Baby Ruth, the official candy bar of Major League Baseball now nearing its 90th anniversary.
Sweet.
> Snickers Charged --- 60 milligrams of caffeine, nearly double what's in a can of Coca-Cola. Label warns it's not for children, pregnant women or the caffeine-sensitive.
> Twix Java --- Coffee-flavored caramel and milk chocolate in this brand extension.
> M&M's --- Forget hearts and flowers, it's all about the green ones.
> Big Mo' --- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s got a new racing team and is revving up the endorsements.
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution