Just when I thought the days of tying regular promotions to the economy and the recession were over, Mars has come out with the Real Chocolate Relief Act. The official Real Chocolate Relief Act web site, at realchocolate.com, says “Times are tough and we at Mars want to help.”

Mars says it is giving away free chocolate to help in tough economic times, and it is also highlighting the fact that Mars candy is made with real chocolate.

Taking pride in chocolate

Here is the explanation from Mars for why their chocolate is superior to certain other candy makers’ chocolate:

“For nearly 100 years, we’ve made chocolate with 100% cocoa butter, which is the taste bud-craving, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate you expect from Mars. Without cocoa butter, chocolate simply is not chocolate.

Some companies use artificial ingredients to make their chocolate sweeter or because it’s cheaper. Know that with Mars, there is no substitute for cocoa butter. We know you prefer Real Chocolate. And that’s what we plan to deliver.”

So, if you sometimes find yourself applying for a same day loan to support your sweet tooth, you can apply for the Real Chocolate Relief Act.

Application for chocolate intake modification

Starting this Friday, July 31, you can go to the RealChocolate web site and plug in your e-mail address. Of everyone who provides their e-mail address, 250,000 people will get a coupon each week for free chocolate

You must apply on Friday for the duration of the promotion, but you can apply every Friday. The promotion lasts throughout September, so you’ve got two months worth of Fridays to try for your free chocolate.

Who decides what’s chocolate?

Mars says on its web site that the U.S. government has written up standards on what qualifies as real chocolate. The Real Chocolate Relief Act web site says:

“U.S. Standards of Identity are government regulations that define which ingredients may be used to make a food product in order to be allowed to call it by a certain name. For chocolate, the Standards of Identity require that cocoa butter be the only source of fat (except for milk fat). There are several other requirements too, such as a specific amount of chocolate liquor, use of flavorings and sugar substitutes.”

The web site also says if candy wrappers say things such as “chocolate flavoring,” “chocolaty” or “made with chocolate,” those products probably aren’t made with the approved chocolate ingredients.

All in the family

Mars is one of the largest privately owned corporations in the U.S. as the business still belongs to the Mars family — the same family that opened the first Mars Candy Factory in 1911.

The business really took off with the invention of the Milky Way bar, which became the country’s best-selling candy bar after it was introduced in 1923.  Today, though the global CEO of Mars Inc., Paul Michaels, is one of the first company CEOs who is not a member of the Mars family, the company is still owned by the family. The family now oversees the business as a council or board of directors.

DISCOVERY!

NASA scientists have discovered gigantic underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars, away from its polar caps. This is yet another positive sign that life may be – and has been – sustainable on the red planet.

Scientists theorize that the frozen water deposits are remnants of a Martian ice age that dates back at least one million years. Because water is a building block for life, the frozen reservoirs are an encouraging sign of extraterrestrial life.

Lots and lots of ice

Radar from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed that the huge glaciers are one half-mile thick beneath Mars’ layers of rock and debris. One glacier appears to be three times the size of Los Angeles, California.

The buried glaciers are located in the Hellas Basin region of Mars’ southern hemisphere, and scientists predict that even larger frozen water reservoirs may exist in Mars’ northern hemisphere.

According to University of Texas at Austin geophysicist Jack Holt:

All together, these glaciers almost certainly represent the largest reservoir of water ice on Mars that’s not in the polar caps … In addition to their scientific value, they could be a source of water to support future exploration of Mars.

Maybe payday loans companies can relocate

My friends, you are interested in the future, for that is where we are going to spend the rest of our lives. I, the Amazing CashAdvanceMojo, predict that customers of such convenient short-term loan products as faxless payday loans hunger for the freedom to choose. Once government takes that choice from you, your budget becomes more vulnerable during times of crisis. Emergency expenses that simply cannot wait bite at your ankles like a peeved pekingese.

With the potential for life on Mars, it is now time. Board craft worthy of sailing the stars and depart. Create a society where the people choose their own destinies, not government. If you need emergency money to cover small expenses, start a business that provides payday loans on the Martian world. Zoom a little zoom in a rocket ship, and see the second story for more on this exciting discovery on Mars!