The Lore Behind Twix's Right And Left Bars

Does your favorite candy bar boast a backstory steeped in mystery and myth? Many do. No one knows exactly how they get the caramel inside a Caramilk bar. The Reese's Peanut Butter cup was born when someone carrying chocolate bumped into someone toting peanut butter (seen in this early ad). And if you fail to curb your hunger with a Snickers bar, you may morph into an angry Joe Pesci or Betty White. Yes, the manufacturers of these chocolate-smothered treats have proven quite imaginative over the years. But one of the most cleverly-composed confection histories is that of Twix.

On the surface, the Twix bar appears simple enough — a crunchy cookie topped with gooey caramel and dipped in creamy milk chocolate. According to Mars, the maker of this candy staple, the seemingly innocuous treat has a heritage mired by strife and family dysfunction. So, what exactly is the story behind these tasty chocolate sticks — and is there a difference in the right and left bars?

The Twix "history" is a rather sad one. It's said that in the fall of 1920, brothers Seamus and Earl had the shared goal of creating a new candy bar that was the perfect marriage of cookie, caramel, and chocolate. Sadly, as they worked towards achieving this dream, a serious rift began to develop between them. They quite simply appeared to disagree on almost everything. As the unveiling of their new bar of chocolate approached, tensions boiled over and the two went their separate ways. 

In a strange twist of fate, the brothers built their operations side-by-side, gazing across the parking lot and mocking one another's inferior factories. To the lesser trained eye (Joe Public included), the buildings looked exactly the same, but the brothers argued that their manufacturing processes differed greatly. Left Twix created "a crunchy cookie with caramel flowing over it, followed by a bathing in chocolate." Right Twix, however, opted for a "crisp cookie base with caramel cascaded over it and cloaked in chocolate." The brothers failed to reconcile their differences and, subsequently, a right Twix and a left Twix would never be packaged together. To this very day, customers are asked to choose between one or the other. 

Whether patrons might think this Left Twix vs. Right Twix campaign is clever or cloying, it was a 2014 finalist for the prestigious Effie advertising award — a big deal in the advertising realm. And, without a doubt, it should receive high marks for cleverness, originality, and memorability. No matter how anyone feels about the fictional Seamus and Earl story, the pressing question is which bar do you prefer — left or right?