It’s understandable why one might assume that there’s a difference between the “left” and “right” Twix bars, given the lengths its manufacturer Mars has gone to imply one exists. From details on how the candy was invented to recipes calling specifically for “Right Twix” or “Left Twix” as ingredients, Twix’s official website is adamant the two sides are different. But are they, really?
In 2012, Mars kicked off its award-winning marketing campaign that split Twix into the two opposing camps. With a slew of advertising and packaging that designated “Right Twix” and “Left Twix,” the company hoped to “exploit what it claims is people’s natural desire to pick sides,” writes Seb Joseph in Marketing Week.
However, despite the company’s ardent claims, there is little evidence of a difference between right and left Twix bars. First and foremost, Mars’ contention that two brothers named “Earl and Seamus” invented the Twix, but disagreed over “chocolate-pouring technique” and “caramel consistency” is hardly believable. Plus, the purported blueprints depicting the brothers’ different designs outlay two identical candy bars with synonymous descriptions of the manufacturing process. One side is a “crunchy cookie base upon which caramel was flowed before being bathed in chocolate,” while the opposing brother’s bar was “a cascade of caramel on a crisp cookie base, cloaked in chocolate.” Set aside the fact that those two descriptions are obviously articulating the same process, the split between brothers would hardly make the front page of The Caramel Chronicle, even in 1920.
Try to dig deeper into the company’s website for answers, and you’ll come up empty. Nowhere in official documents outlining its supply chain transparency, commitment to “responsible marketing” or the company’s Modern Slavery Act disclosure is there a hint of truth beind whether the right and left Twix are actually different. Similarly, if there were a difference between them, there would certainly be some evidence of an expansion or alteration to the Twix manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee. Such was the case in 2012 when Mars spent $67 million to boost its Pretzel M&M capacity, but for a major split in production for one of its flagship products? Nothing.
Twix has yet to respond for comment, which leaves only one last venue for truth — going to the gas station down the street from my Chicago apartment and buying both a Right Twix and a Left Twix. Ignoring the fact that I’ve now become an absolute patsy for the marketing campaign, I’ve provided photographic evidence of the indistinguishable structure and chocolatey makeup of the two sides.
As you can see, both the exterior and interior of the left and right Twix bars are exactly the same. And, though anecdotal, I can report that all four bars taste exactly the same, too.
So if you’re debating between a “left” Twix and a “right” Twix, just know that the difference is completely illusionary, made up by a billion dollar global corporation trying to stoke division and reap the profits therein. No matter what you choose, or what’s inside them, just don’t eat all four Twix bars at the same time. Because trust me, it doesn’t end well.
Quinn Myers
Quinn Myers is a staff writer at MEL. He reports on internet culture, technology, health, masculinity and the communities that flourish within.
