Mars Celebrations recently hit the news headlines when high profile celebrities published their outrage at Mars’ ‘decision’ to remove Bounty from their Celebrations chocolates this Christmas. Turns out, that it was mostly a PR stunt, and the Bounty-less boxes will actually be a rarity.

We wondered whether Bounty are actually the least favoured variety, so we asked a nationally representative sample of 7,936 UK adults, and it turns out, they’re not:

Q1. Which of the following Mars Celebrations do you like? (Please select all that apply)

1. Maltesers: 69%
2. Galaxy: 63%
3. Twix: 59%
4. Galaxy Caramel: 57%
5. Mars: 55%
6. Bounty: 53%
7. Milky Way: 52%
8. Snickers: 51%

Full results here

So, not only was it a PR stunt, it also turned out not to be true, at least, according to our survey.

Just so we’re not accused of falling into their trap, we also asked about the other popular Christmas chocolate selections:

Q2. Which of the following Quality Street chocolates do you like? (Please select all that apply)

1. Milk Chocolate Block: 55%
2. The Purple One (Hazelnut and caramel): 55%
3. Caramel Swirl: 53%
4. The Green Triangle (Hazelnut noisette): 53%
5. Fudge: 50%
6. Orange Crunch: 42%
7. Toffee Finger: 42%
8. Strawberry Delight: 42%
9. Orange Crème: 39%
10. Toffee Penny: 37%
11. Coconut Eclair: 33%
12. Lemon Zing: 24%

Full results here

Interestingly, 8 out of 12 of the Quality Street varieties are less popular than Bounty, although their coconut options does effectively come last, after the unfamiliar Lemon Zing. Perhaps worrying for Nestlé, more varieties are disliked than liked

Q3. Which of the following Cadbury Roses chocolates do you like? (Please select all that apply)

1. Cadbury Dairy Milk Chunk: 64%
2. Golden Barrel: 58%
3. Caramel: 55%
4. Hazel Whirl: 53%
5. Hazel in Caramel: 51%
6. Country Fudge: 49%
7. Signature Truffle: 44%
8. Strawberry Dream: 41%
9. Tangy Orange Creme: 39%

Full results here

Q4. Which of the following Cadbury Heroes chocolates do you like? (Please select all that apply)

1. Twirl: 68%
2. Cadbury Dairy Milk: 67%
3. Wispa: 67%
4. Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel: 59%
5. Crunchie Bits: 58%
6. Fudge: 53%
7. Creme Egg Twisted: 49%
8. Eclairs: 46%
9. Dinky Decker: 45%

Full results here

Two thirds of Cadbury Heroes have more likers then dislikers and the highest percentage of likes when averaged over the whole range, 65% compared to 64% for Celebrations, 58% for Roses and 50% for Quality Street. Interestingly, Wispa, which was axed in 2003 after poor sales, and then brought back in 2008 comes joint second.

Overall, the nation’s favourite chocolate from the variety boxes that we asked about is Maltesers with 69%, followed by Twirl with 68%, and Dairy Milk and Wispa joint third with 67%.

Perhaps Mars are playing a doubly smart game, and we should expect a resurgence for Bounty

About the survey

Find Out Now surveyed 8,679 UK consumers and adjusted the results to a nationally representative sample of 7,936 within +/-1% of ONS quotas for age, gender, region, social-economic group, EU 2016 vote, and 2019 GE vote

Find Out Now is a Market Research Society Certified Company Partner and member of the British Polling Council, and abides by their rules.

Photo credit: Luke Tapley