August 10, 2026
The bar got smaller. The drama didn’t
Mars Bar from 1991 found – and it's 20g bigger than today's
Vintage Mars Bar sparks shrinkflation outrage — and jokes that the real shock is this made the news
TLDR: A Mars Bar from 1991 was found in a house clearance, and people were stunned that it’s 20g bigger than the one sold today. The internet turned it into a battle over shrinkflation, with some angry at smaller treats and others joking that the wildest part is this becoming major news.
A 35-year-old Mars Bar dug out of a hoarder’s house in Scunthorpe has turned into the internet’s latest snack-sized scandal, after people noticed the 1991 bar weighed 62.5g compared with today’s 40g version. Victoria Gordon, who found it during a house clearance, said it was nearly the length of her hand and almost got tossed in the skip before social media decided this dusty chocolate relic was basically a national treasure. Mars says size changes reflect customer demand, rising costs, and expensive cocoa — but the comments section was far more interested in serving up sarcasm, disbelief, and full-on shrinkflation rage.
The community reaction split fast. Some were instantly yelling, "See! This is what they’ve taken from us," while others rolled their eyes that a found candy bar had become tier-one news at all. One commenter dryly asked if the BBC had only just discovered shrinkflation, while another went full galaxy-brain and joked that whatever happened to the planet Mars might also explain what happened to the Mars Bar’s missing 20 grams. Then came the health hot take: maybe smaller junk food portions are actually good for everyone, making this one of the rare times shrinkflation might be a win. And because the internet can never stay normal for long, someone casually dropped a bizarre flex about having family friends whose basement was once full of test Mars Bars. In other words: part consumer complaint, part comedy sketch, part national snack nostalgia meltdown.
Key Points
- •A Mars Bar with a 1991 best-before date was found during a house clearance in Scunthorpe.
- •The older Mars Bar weighed 62.5g, compared with 40g for a current Mars Bar shown beside it.
- •Victoria Gordon of Pocket Rockets found the bar while clearing a hoarder’s house and posted a photo on social media.
- •Gordon told BBC Radio Lincolnshire that the bar stood out because it was nearly the length of her hand.
- •A Mars spokesperson said bar sizes and pack formats have changed over 35 years due to consumer demand, manufacturing costs, and cocoa prices.