Man who found smooth Mars bar gets $4 compensation

Harry Seager, 34, bought the smooth snack at a service station on the way to a car show in Birmingham. Photo / Harry Seager

A man who found a Mars bar without its signature chocolate swirl has received £2 ($4.37) compensation and an apology over the incident.

The company admits a slip-up in the production process and says signature chocolate swirl “isn’t going away”.

Harry Seager, 34, caused an online storm earlier this month when he posted his discovery on the Dull Men’s Facebook page after buying the snack at a service stop on the way to a car show in Birmingham.

He contacted Mars Wrigley UK to ask whether the smooth bar was a new addition to the popular chocolate product which has been made in Slough since 1932.

Mars Wrigley UK has now apologised and paid £2 compensation to Mr Seager over the incident. 

Seager was surprised to receive the gift voucher, saying: “The only reason I emailed [Mars] was because I was interested in what might have caused it to happen. That is all I wanted to know and they kept side-lining that question,” he told the BBC.Mars bars come with a signature chocolate swirl on top.

“I think £2 is great. It will be two free Mars bars. Maybe they could have sent me more but I’m not being ungrateful. I think it’s amazing after everything that’s happened that I got the £2 voucher.”

Earlier this month, the company admitted the smooth bar had slipped through its production process and the famous swirl was not being removed from its iconic product.

Chocolate waterfall

Seager said a few people who used to work at Mars’ factories commented on the Facebook page that all bars are meant to go through a machine called an enrober, which is like a “[chocolate] waterfall”.

“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 air.”

A Mars Wrigley UK spokesperson confirmed the smooth Mars bar was a mistake.

“With over 2.5 million Mars Bars produced daily at our Slough factory it seems this has slipped through without its signature flourish,” the spokesperson said.

“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.”

First published by NZ Herald, reshared with permission.

"Hey Alexa, play ZM coz they have all the hits and throwbacks I love."