Mars Inc (US)

Still wholly owned by its founding family, packaged foods giant Mars is one of the world's biggest private companies, with annual sales approaching $30bn. In addition to its globe-spanning confectionery brands Snickers and M&Ms, the company is one of the most important worldwide manufacturers of petfood, through its KalKan, Sheba, Pedigree and Whiskas brands, and also manufactures sauces and easy-cook rice-based meals under the Uncle Ben's umbrella. In April 2008, in by far the biggest acquisition in the company's history, Mars acquired gum and mint giant Wrigley in a substantial $23bn deal which made it the world's largest overall confectioner. In chocolate, however, it still ranks behind Hershey in the US, although Mars has a far wider global spread and M&M's is the world's best-selling confectionery brand. Advertising Age estimated global combined advertising expenditure of $2.0bn in 2008 for Mars and Wrigley, making the company the world's #13 advertiser.

Click here to access the Adbrands profile (subscribers only); or subscribe to Adbrands.net here. Adbrands coverage of Mars Inc is spread across several pages. See also the local market page for Mars and the brand snapshot page for Snickers. Adbrands Company Profiles provide a detailed analysis of the history and current operations of leading advertisers, agencies and brands worldwide, and include a critical summary which identifies key strengths and weaknesses. Adbrands Account Assignments tracks account management for the world's leading brands and companies, including details of which advertising agency handles which accounts in which countries for major markets.

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Competitors: See also Food, Confectionery and Petcare Sector indexes for other companies

The Adbrands Company Profile of Mars summarises the company's history and current operations and also contains the following website links:

Mars Inc website

Wrigley	Uncle Ben's
Snickers	KalKan
Twix	Ethel M
M&M's	Mars Electronics International
Seeds of Change	Café Flavia
Sheba	Whiskas
Lockets	Celebrations
Skittles	Four Square
3Musketeers	Dolmio
Starburst	MilkyWay
Mars Bar	Seramis
Klix	Combos
Aquarian	Mondo
Dove	Cesar
Mars chocolate drink	Kit E Kat
Galaxy chocolate drink	Ebly
The Positive Food Company	Pedigree
Royal Canin	Nutro Products

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