Reese’s Pieces

Reese’s Pieces, Hershey’s popular candy shells filled with a peanut butter mixture, would never have become famous without the help of competitor M&M’s.

The fact that M&M’s had been America’s best-selling candy since its introduction in the early 1940s infuriated Hershey executives, especially because Milton Hershey’s right-hand man William Murrie had helped Forrest E. Mars Sr. launch the M&M brand. Hershey’s had supplied M&M’s with chocolate and helped the business throughout World War II when rationing made supplies scarce. Murrie’s son Bruce went into business with Forrest Mars, representing the second M on M&M’s, but Forrest forced Bruce out when he had no further use for his Hershey connections. See hershey’s; mars; and m&m’s.