• by Barbie Romero , January 14, 2025

It also offered adoptable plushie toys in 1984. Can you guess which candy brand sold 250 million boxes in the first two years of launching? 

• NERDS candy was born in March 1983 when Sunmark introduced the tart, crunchy candy under the company’s new portfolio of Wonka brands. NERDS came in the iconic dual-chambered cardboard boxes and were originally available in Orange ‘N Cherry and Grape ‘N Strawberry flavor combinations.

• The “Adopt-a-NERDS” promotion was launched in 1984. Consumers mailed $6.95 along with proof of four NERDS candy purchases and got a stuffed NERDS plushie in return.

• By August 1985, NERDS had sold 250 million boxes.  

• In 1985, just two years after NERDS was first launched, the National Candy Wholesalers Association named NERDS its Candy of the Year. 

• In the mid-to-late 1990s, McDonald’s Happy Meals included 57 million samples of NERDS, the first candy to ever tie in with Happy Meals.

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