GLENDALE, Calif. -- It has been "90ish" years since the Butterfinger candy bar first made its debut. To celebrate the brand's first 90 years, Butterfinger kicked off the new year with a 90-day countdown, where fans will have a chance to share favorite Butterfinger memories.
Throughout the 90 days, Butterfinger will showcase some of its very best moments in history including vintage bar photos, popular ad campaigns, little known trivia, spokesperson spotlights and more.
"After 90ish years, Butterfinger continues to be a fan favorite with a rich history that is a part of every generation today," said spokesperson Tricia Bowles of Nestle USA. "And the 90-day countdown is just the beginning of our exciting celebration throughout the year, so stay tuned for more incredible announcements from Butterfinger."
Butterfinger designated 2013 as a benchmark for its first 90ish years, as the candy bar originally invented by Chicago's Curtiss Candy Co. was believed to have been promoted as early as 1923 (before it ultimately was sold to Nestle in 1990); however, Butterfinger parent company Nestle holds a trademark document from 1928, thus the 90ish reference around its anniversary, keeping in line with the brand's irreverent sense of humor.
Since the 1920s, when the term "Butterfinger" was used by sportscasters to describe athletes who were unable to hold onto a baseball or football, Butterfinger has become a brand known for humor and a roster of funny spokespersons, from Bart Simpson to Seth Green to Erik Estrada to Rob Lowe and Jaime Pressly, its most recent and first female spokesperson.
A look at just the most recent years with Butterfinger illustrates the brand's irreverent nature: counting down the end of the world or BARmageddon, with evidence such as the first-ever, square-shaped crop circle in Kansas, a Butterfinger comedy-horror movie called "Butterfinger the 13th," the first interactive digital graphic novel by a candy brand starring the Butterfinger Defense League and several attention-grabbing April Fool's Day pranks, including the renaming of the candy bar to "The Finger."
During the 90-day countdown, fans can go to Facebook.com/Butterfinger to learn more about the "best of" Butterfinger, and see the candy bar's journey from boundary-pushing marketing stunts to the evolution of its candy wrapper designs.
Glendale, Calif.-based Nestle USA makes food and beverage products and is part of Nestle SA, Vevey, Switzerland, with 2011 sales of $94 billion.
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