Aahh, the wacky gang at Mars. Is there no craven brand extension they will not try? I thought post Bisc& they had dialled down the rampant dilution of their brands. And dilute is indeed what they have done now with the somewhat uncalled for TWIX & M&M SHAKES.. Mars apparently wants to invent a new snacking category, namely Dessert Drinks. So for your £1.50 you get a thick shake (caramel in Twix, chocolate for M&Ms), a straw and some – er – bits. The bits being either mini-Twixs for dipping or mini M&Ms for you to presumable choke on when one goes whizzing up the straw and straight into your oesophagus.
Of course the Rolo milkshake has been around occasionally in McDonald’s, though I don’t think there were any toffees in the bottom of the cup. And again McDonald’s have been flogging their soft ice-cream / chcoclate bar concoctions for years. But the dessert drink? I’m not sure we need.
That said I have a completely different brand category people might want to consider. The starter coffee. Yes people like a soup, or maybe a prawn cocktail, but sometimes you are sleepy when you go into a meal. One of the FT writers was given looks of horror when she ordered a coffee for a starter recently – it strikes me this must be rectified before we can tackle dessert drinks!