There are presidential M&M's that are given out to guests.

U.S. History

F lying on Air Force One would be memorable for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the opportunity to procure a box of presidential M&M 's. The candies come in just three colors — red, white, and blue — in boxes roughly the size of a cigarette packet; the package features the presidential seal and current leader's signature on one side and a flag-bearing M&M character on the other. The prestigious snack has been given out to guests since 1988 as a replacement for actual cigarettes, which presidents including John F. Kennedy gave to members of the press and other guests on Air Force One.

Ronald Reagan, a former smoker, switched to candy instead of cigarettes as part of the administration's "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign. He initially opted for jelly beans (which he loved), but also requested custom boxes of M&M's from Mars, Inc. in 1988. That year, First Lady Nancy Reagan saw the Moscow Summit as an opportunity to both ban smoking on Air Force One and use candy as a diplomatic tool. After arriving in the Russian capital, the first lady took boxes of M&M's off Air Force One and gave them to schoolchildren. They've remained a presidential gift ever since, with Bill Clinton being the first to add his signature to the box and offering peanut M&M's as an option.

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By the Numbers

Traditional M&M colors (red, orange, green, blue, yellow, and brown)

Year classic M&M's were introduced

1941

Did you know?

M&M's were the first candy in space.

The 1980s were a big decade for M&M's. In addition to being chosen as an official presidential candy, they also became the first candy in space when astronauts brought the "candy-coated chocolates" (as NASA labels them) aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981. They were chosen not just for taste but also for practical reasons: M&M's are eaten whole, meaning they won't leave crumbs that can float through zero gravity and get lodged in the crevices of important instruments; they're also harder to lose due to their bright colors. "When you're talking about a chocolate bar that you have to bite or break, a piece could fly off," space historian Jennifer Levasseur explained on the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum website. "Anything you can eat in daily life that could leave crumbs behind is potentially bad news for the spacecraft."

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