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Mars has pulled its pan-European Mars Bar account out of D'Arcy

after more than 40 years, and handed it to fellow roster agency Grey

Worldwide, in a bid to revitalise the brand.

All three Mars roster agencies, Grey, D'Arcy and Abbott Mead Vickers

BBDO, were involved in the pitch, which Mars said was part of a "regular

brand review".

D'Arcy devised the 'A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play'

strapline in the 1970s, to position the chocolate as a hearty,

nutritional snack that provides energy for any occasion. It was targeted

at young men and the advertising showed males conquering the rugged

outdoors.

Mars decided to abandon the phrase in 1997 after it realised the

strategy was putting women off buying the product. The line is still

used on packaging, but advertising has since carried the slogan 'Every

day should be this good'.

The realignment leaves D'Arcy's place on the Masterfoods roster looking

tenuous. Its recent losses of Twix, also to Grey, Uncle Ben's to the

BBDO network and now Mars Bar, means D'Arcy is left with just four

Masterfoods confectionery accounts - Maltesers, Revels, Skittles and

Flyte.

In Petcare, it retains Bounce, Caesar, Frolic, Pal, Trill, Catsan and

Chappie. In food it still has Dolmio and Seeds of Change.

Grey adds Mars Bar to an already healthy collection of Masterfoods

brands. In confectionery, it holds Galaxy, Milky Way, Starburst, Tracker

and Twix. In Petcare, it handles brands including Kit-e-kat and

Pedigree.

COMMENT

The decision to pull Mars Bar's advertising out of D'Arcy marks the end

of an era for the iconic brand.

It has been somewhat in the advertising wilderness since Mars ditched

the 'Mars a day' strapline.

The slogan served the brand well for many years but has eventually

proved to be a millstone. The replacement 'Every day should be this

good' strapline, has failed to capture the public imagination in the

same way.

The challenge for Grey will be to come up with a positioning which

matches or betters 'Mars a day'.