Why This 1970s Braided Chocolate Bar Didn't Even Last A Decade

"Lasts a good long time" was the slogan of the throwback candy Marathon Bar, which was launched by Mars in the United States in 1973 before being discontinued in 1981. A long braid of chewy caramel covered in chocolate that stretched 8 inches (as measured by a ruler printed on the back of the wrapper), the candy bar was designed to take a long time to get through, which was part of its allure. But why didn't it last as long on the market as its hopeful slogan implied?

In the end, it's said that sales just weren't good enough to justify keeping the product line. While the initial hype around the chocolate-covered caramel treat was reportedly positive, interest in the interwoven candy decreased quickly after its launch. Still, Mars invested significant marketing resources into the candy, including an array of advertisements and commercials featuring cowboy western movie star Patrick Wayne (aka Marathon John) as the face of the Marathon Bar.

But even the best marketing campaigns couldn't keep the chocolate bar afloat. Caramel and chocolate are a classic duo, but it's possible the candy was too chewy for many customers. Those who preferred hard caramel over soft caramel may have loved the chewy texture, but others recall it taking a little too long to work through. Plus, the chocolate bar's long length compared to other popular candy bars rendered it necessary to stock it on separate displays since it didn't fit in standard shelf spaces. This very well could have posed some long-term stocking difficulties for stores.

For the most part, the Marathon Bar is among the list of vintage candy bars no one remembers anymore — except for nostalgic fans and select candy bar collectors who seek out old wrappers and advertisements. Still, some of its legacy remains today.

The Marathon Bar was exclusive to the United States, where it was a completely separate product from Mars' more popular candy bar, Snickers. In the United Kingdom, however, Snickers was sold under the name "Marathon" from the late 1960s until 1990. More recently, Mars paid homage to it by launching a limited-availability "retro edition" Snickers branded with the Marathon name in the U.K. in 2024.

If you want to have a taste of the Marathon Bar experience, you can seek out Cadbury's Curly Wurly, which launched around the same time as Marathon Bar and is conceptually very similar. The candy bar is exclusively sold in the U.K. and is still available today. With that said, it isn't an exact replica. On a r/nostalgia Reddit thread about the long-lost candy, one user admitted, "They're close, but Curly Wurly caramel isn't quite as firm/chewy as I remember Marathon being." For many fans, however, it's likely the closest modern-day equivalent.