100 Grand (originally called the $100,000 Candy Bar and then, from the 1970s through the mid-1980s, as the $100,000 Bar) is a
candy bar
A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with other ...
produced by the
Ferrara Candy Company
The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group.
The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sa ...
, a subsidiary of
Ferrero Ferrero (Italian: , Spanish: ) is a surname of Italian (from Piedmont) and Spanish origin that means 'smith', the person who works with iron, in parallel with surnames like Ferraro, Ferrari and Smith.
Notable people with the surname Ferrero inclu ...
. The candy bar was created in 1964 by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
. It weighs and includes
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
,
caramel
Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard.
The process of caramelizatio ...
and
crisped rice
Puffed rice and popped rice (or pop rice) are types of puffed grain made from rice commonly eaten in the traditional cuisines of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. It has also been produced commercially in the West since 1904 and is popul ...
. The bar contains 201 calories; it is low in
cholesterol
Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...
and
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
, but high in
saturated fat
A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched c ...
and
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
. Its first slogan was, "Tastes so good it's almost illegal!" Its current slogan is, "That's Rich!"
Use in humor
In the mid 1990s,
Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, DJs on Boston radio station
WAAF-FM, promoted a giveaway of "100 Grand" over several weeks before finally revealing to the eventual winner that the prize was a 100 Grand bar rather than $100,000.
In the
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
episode "
The Dealership,"
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
is complaining to a manager that a mechanic stole his Twix as evidenced by the cookie crumbs on his face. The manager asks if it could have been the $100,000 Bar to which George replies "no" because it's only rice and caramel. After this exchange, another dealership employee interjects to inform George that the name of the $100,000 Bar was changed to 100 Grand.
In May 2005, a
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
woman sued another radio station,
WLTO-FM in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
, for a similar prank in which
radio DJ DJ Slick gave away one of the bars, leading (so the woman claims) listeners to believe the DJ was giving away $100,000.
Comedians have used the bar's name in a similar fashion. In the episode "
Business School
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...
" of ''
The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original series of ...
'', Michael Scott tries to use the bar as a motivational tool. He says: "And if you sell enough of them, you will make a 'one hundred grand'!", and displays a 100 Grand bar. When he throws the bar into the bewildered audience, they separate, and let the bar hit one of the students in the head. On ''
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'', an image of a 100 Grand bar was part of the introduction to a recurring segment called Colbert Platinum, presented as tongue-in-cheek news and advice for the extremely rich. On the March 24, 2011 episode, Colbert interviewed the Senior Fellow for Global Health on the Council on Foreign Relations, Laurie Garrett, about escalating
food prices
Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food.
Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing an ...
and joked, "candy bars have gone up, I saw one that cost 100 Grand!"
Sale to Ferrero
100 Grand was produced by Nestlé until 2018. In January of that year, Nestlé sold their American confectionery business to
Ferrero SpA
Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer ...
, allowing them to use the Nestlé name for one year. Ferrero merged Nestlé candies with Ferrara Candy Company.
See also
*
Chokito
Chokito is a combination chocolate bar brand, created and owned by Nestlé. The original bar consists of an ingot-shaped caramel fudge center, with a coating of milk chocolate and crisped rice on the outside. It is manufactured by Nestlé in S ...
, a similar chocolate bar also introduced by Nestlé in 1964
*
List of chocolate bar brands
This is a list of chocolate bar brands, in alphabetical order. Flavour variants and discontinued chocolate bars are included. A chocolate bar, also known as a candy bar in American English, is a confection in an oblong or rectangular form co ...
References
Brand name confectionery
Chocolate bars
Products introduced in 1964
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