Not much to Celebrate (Mars Celebrations)

Member Name: a-true-ben

Product:	Mars Celebrations
Date:	03/01/04 (615 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Selection of chocolates

Disadvantages: Not very posh (compared to Roses etc), Too small - might as well have the bars

Another Christmas, another tin of celebrations...

Celebrations are a selection of miniature chocolates made by Masterfoods (who include Galaxy). They come in a standard Roses/Quality Street shape box, larger at the top than bottom, which is predominantly red, but has a clear section so you can see the chocolates, and has all the types on the back. It?s described as ?a sparking selection of the biggest names in chocolate in miniature? and on the bottom it says ?do not read this whilst box is open!? I can hardly contain my amusement. Really.

The chocolates themselves are all individually wrapped. The wrappers are unusual too ? though they look like traditional wrappers with twirly bits on each end, they don?t unroll as you?d expect. Instead each wrapper has a small slit in the middle, and you have to ?peel? your chocolates. It may seem weird at first, but they?re generally easy to open (I should add, in this box I got one without a split I had to cut open, and another that had come open in the box losing it?s chocolate; but I?ve never had either of those problems before).

While I still have enough left, a quick guide to what?s on offer (note ?the mix of sweets may slightly vary in composition?)

Malteasers Teaser ? I?d have thought this might be just an individually wrapped malteaser, but it?s not. You get lots of the little honeycomb biscuit things (like malteasers) only really small and all ?wrapped? in a rugby-ball-shaped piece of chocolate. I actually really like this combination of chocolate and honeycomb, and it makes a change.

Galaxy Truffle ? I think I only had two in my box, which shows they?re quite rare. The same size and shape as the Teaser, but this time the middle is a supposedly creamy truffle. I have to say the one I?m eating now it was rather just like the normal chocolate, but I remember the other being a bit different, so maybe this one?s a dud!

The rest are all like standard regular-sized chocola
te bars, only small (about 1.5? long I?d guess):

Bounty ? coconut covered in milk chocolate (I prefer dark, but those aren?t in this selection)
Mars ? well known chocolate-covered caramel and stuff bar ? what is that soft bit in the middle anyway?
Snickers ? pretty much like Mars with peanuts, though the peanuts are the dominant taste.
Milky Way ? imagine a white version of the non-caramel stuff in Mars bars. That?s what you get in these ones...
Topic ? not as well known as the others, this is chocolate-coated hazelnut in caramel.
Galaxy ? simply a little chunk of Galaxy chocolate ? rather plain and boring really (like Dairy Milk)
Galaxy Caramel ? Er, chocolate coated caramel (surprise, surprise!) The caramel centre is runnier than Cadbury?s Caramel I think, but I probably prefer this one for what little difference it makes.

Some of the chocolates contain nuts (this is stated on the box), it doesn?t state whether they?re suitable for vegetarians (certainly not for vegans as they contain milk and egg white) and the milk chocolate is 14% milk solid, 25% cocoa solid minimum. There?s no nutritional information. No doubt this is to avoid disappointing chocoholics (my spell checker recognises that!) with the news that chocolate isn?t healthy. The best before date was 05/04/04 which, given they were bought before Xmas, is quite a well ? they certainly didn?t last that long.

My box is 280g net (285g inc. wrappers) ? I can?t tell you what it cost because it was a present, and prices will vary depending where you shop. I?d probably expect to pay around £2, but if you?re lucky they may be on BOGOF or the like. There?s a website too (because even the most trivial products must have one) www.celebrations.co.uk, from where you can apparently send e-cards.

What did I think overall? Well, I was certainly quite happy to eat them, don?t get me wrong, but I don?t really see what this box is for. It?s supposed to be ?Celebrati
ons? presumably, but I don?t think they?re even as nice and/or posh as, say, Roses or Quality Street (which would remain my choices for ?thank yous? and elderly relatives). The selection of chocolate favourites seems more like a way of getting kiddies to part with their pocket-money to be honest, and is probably over-priced anyway.

I suppose their real opposition is not Roses, but Cadbury?s Miniature Heroes, which I find equally pointless. Nothing really wrong, but I don?t think I?d buy either. Not recommended - and certainly not anything posh for Valentines, assuming you're over the age of 8!

Summary: