Yankie Bar facts for kids

The Yankie Bar is a tasty chocolate bar made with caramel, nougat, and milk chocolate. It is produced and sold in Denmark by a company called Toms International. It is quite similar to the European version of the Mars Bar.

The Yankie Bar Story

How the Yankie Bar Began

Right after the Second World War, in 1946, an American military group in Germany contacted Toms, a Danish candy maker. They wanted Toms to make a special candy bar for American soldiers stationed in Germany. This would save the Americans from having to ship candy all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. In return, the U.S. promised to give Toms all the cocoa beans they needed to make the chocolate.

Naming the Yankie Bar

The chocolate bar was named Yankie Bar after the American soldiers, who were often called "Yankees." The spelling was chosen with "-ie" instead of "-ee" to help people in Denmark say the name correctly.

New Candy Bars from Toms

Ten years later, in 1956, Toms launched another candy bar called the Holly Bar. It was similar to the Yankie Bar but had white nougat and roasted hazelnuts.

Yankie Bar and Popular Culture

When the Yankie Bar first came out, Toms used a marketing strategy that focused on people's liking for American culture. This helped the candy bar become very popular.

However, during the Vietnam War (which ended in 1975), many people around the world protested against America. Slogans like "Yankees go home" became common. This made the Yankie Bar's name less popular for a while. But after the war ended, the candy bar quickly became popular again.

Later, when Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States (from 1977 to 1981), Toms even created an advertisement that featured someone who looked very much like him.