Nestlé version (1990–2018); this wrapper was used from 2001 to 2018 in the US.
Butterfinger is acandy bar manufactured by theFerrara Candy Company, a subsidiary ofFerrero. It is manufactured internationally by Nestlé.[1] It consists of a layered crisppeanut butter core covered in a "chocolatey" coating (it is not eligible to be referred to aschocolate, as it contains nococoa butter).[2][3] It was invented by Otto Schnering of theCurtiss Candy Company in 1923. A popularity contest chose the name.
Butterfinger was invented by Otto Schnering in 1923. Schnering had founded theCurtiss Candy Company nearChicago,Illinois, in 1922.[4] The company held a public contest to choose the name of this candy. In an early marketing campaign, the company dropped Butterfinger andBaby Ruth candy bars from airplanes in cities across the United States as a publicity stunt that helped increase its popularity.
In December 1988, RJR Nabisco was purchased byKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in what was, at the time, the largest leveraged buyout in history. In February 1990,Nestlé, a Swiss multinational food and beverage company, bought Baby Ruth and Butterfinger from RJR Nabisco.[5]
Butterfinger was withdrawn from the market in Germany in 1999, because of consumer rejection when it was one of the first products to be identified as containinggenetically modified ingredients (GMOs) from corn.[6][7] Butterfinger sales ended after a successful campaign byGreenpeace pushed Nestlé to remove the product from German supermarkets.[8]
With sales in 2010 of $598 million, Butterfinger had become increasingly popular and was typically ranked as the eleventh most popular candy bar sold in the $17.68 billionUnited States chocolate confectionery market between 2007 and 2010.[9]
In January 2018, Nestlé announced plans to sell over twenty of its US confectionery brands (including Butterfinger) to Italian chocolatierFerrero SpA, for $2.8 billion.[10] The deal was finalized in March 2018, and the newly acquired brands were folded into the operations of the Ferrero Candy Company.[11]
Ferrero reformulated the Butterfinger in January 2019, with labels displaying "Improved Recipe". "Better" Butterfinger, as it is identified in advertising, usesrunner peanuts in the bar's core that are roasted at the manufacturing plant. The new bar also uses a higher percentage of cocoa and milk in the "chocolatey" coating and cuts ingredients such as the preservative TBHQ and hydrogenated oils.[12]
The packaging itself has also been upgraded to avoid spoilage.[13]
Some social media users have criticized the new recipe.[14]
Beginning in 1988, Butterfinger was advertised withThe Simpsons, still a series of shorts inThe Tracey Ullman Show at the time. The first commercial was the advertisement "The Butterfinger Group", which featured the debut of the characterMilhouse 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. TheSimpsons-Butterfinger marketing was phased out by 2001 but brought back in 2010.
Butterfinger campaigns include counting down the end of the world orBARmageddon, with evidence such as the first-ever,QR shapedcrop circle in Kansas, a Butterfingercomedy-horror movie called “Butterfinger the 13th,” the first interactive digitalgraphic novel by a candy brand starring the Butterfinger Defense League, and several attention-grabbingApril Fool's Day pranks, including the renaming of the candy bar to “The Finger.”[15]
On April 1, 2008,Nestlé launched anApril 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 earlierThe 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 theTwitter account ofThe Simpsons stated that the "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger" advertising campaign featuringBart 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]
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 toWhoppers andMaltesers, they were roughly the size ofmarbles and sold in bags. They also were advertised by the Simpsons. Discontinued 2006, relaunched 2009 as Butterfinger Bites.
Buzz: During the height of theenergy drink craze in 2009, a two piece ‘king size’ version of the candy bar containing 80 milligrams ofcaffeine 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 toReese'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.
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.
1 Brand owned byGeneral Mills; Produced by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced byCereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere.2 Brand owned byGeneral Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license.3 U.S. production rights owned byThe Hershey Company.4 U.S. rights and production owned by theSmarties Candy Company with a different product.5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned byAssociated British Foods.6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé.7 Brand owned byPost Foods; Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland.8 Philippine production rights owned byAlaska Milk Corporation.9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned byFraser and Neave.10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia.11 Used only in the Philippines.12 U.S. production rights owned by theFerrara Candy Company.13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019.14 Brand owned byMars, sold by Nestlé in Canada.15 Produced byFroneri in the U.S. since 2020.
