MCLEAN, Virginia: Mars, maker of the chocolate bar range and Pal pet foods, among a host of other brands, is scrapping its Masterfoods moniker under which it trades outside its native USA.

In future the business, with a few exceptions, will be renamed Mars across most of the sixty-five countries in which it operates. Rebranding to that effect will begin shortly.

Comments Mars global president Paul Michaels: "By introducing a unified corporate brand name, we will reduce complexity, provide one point of reference and build greater awareness for our business."

  • Meantime, the company has upset vegetarians and kosher food consumers across the planet by announcing it now uses animal products in its best known confectionery lines like Snickers and Twix.

    Says a spokesman: "Since changing the sourcing of our ingredients, we are no longer able to ensure our chocolate will be animal rennet-free and so we made the principled decision to admit it was not guaranteed to be vegetarian."

    Data sourced from Brand Republic (UK); additional content by WARC staff