How Reese's Pieces And Not M&M's Were Featured in E.T.

When audiences first watched Elliot lure a stranded alien into his house in the 1982 blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, he didn’t use America’s most ubiquitous chocolate candy. Instead, he left a trail of Reese’s Pieces, a practically unknown, brand-new product at the time. To many viewers, it felt like an strange and jarring product placement. Elliot was far more likely to have a bag of M&M’s in his pocket, and in the official novelization of the movie, E.T. did indeed munch on the classic candy. However, the on-screen swap from M&M’s to Reese’s Pieces wasn’t an artistic choice by the filmmakers. It was the direct result of one of the most spectacularly short-sighted corporate decisions in the history of food marketing.

Reese's Pieces label close view — Image by Mike Mozart/Jeepers Media

M&M Mars Said NO!

The original script for E.T.. of course, called for Elliot to scatter a trail of M&Ms to lure E.T. Yet, when Amblin Entertainment asked the M&M division of Mars, Inc. for permission to feature M&M’s in the movie, the company refused!

They decided that they didn’t want their candy to be associated with aliens, or some such nonsense. This was perhaps one of the silliest decisions ever made by a food-related company. Absolutely mind-boggling! In fairness, they had no way of knowing how monumentally successful and iconic the movie would be. Yet, others saw an opportunity and ran with it.

Hershey Company, Owners of Reese’s, Wasn’t Asked Permission

Hershey Company, apparently, had topped off their sugar and were able to think straight. According to sources at the time, such as New York Magazine, their permission wasn’t asked prior to Reese’s Pieces being used. The movie producers went ahead and used it, and only afterward did they show Hershey and ask them to go in on a joint promotion.

Jack Dowd, then vice-president of Hershey Co. was a bit hesitant, but after he viewed stills from the movie, he went in on a one million dollar promotion, including T-shirts and posters.

Reese’s Pieces Eclipses M&M’s

After the movie hit the theaters, sales of Reese’s pieces topped M&M’s for the first time. Sales of Reese’s Pieces went up by 65%, and soon they were being sold in theaters, where they had never been before. Mars probably regrets its decision to this day, not that the company is suffering.

Sure, I had eaten my fair share of Reese’s Pieces before the movie came out, and I thought they were OK. But after the movie, why my kid’s brain thought, well, they must be better than I thought. I ate a lot more Reese’s Pieces afterward.

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The E.T. Marketing Bonanza

E.T. was, in general, a marketing bonanza. General Mills also released an E.T. Cereal. Yet, Mars wasn’t the only company to miss out on this golden opportunity.

For example, the E.T. action figures, which said “Elliot,” “ouch,” and “phone home” in E.T.’s voice, were manufactured by LJN Toys, LTD after two other toy companies turned down an offer to make the dolls. Poor saps.

Of course, E.T.’s “golden touch” didn’t work for every product associated with the movie. The Atari E.T. video game, which also featured Reese’s pieces scattered about and used to replenish E.T.’s energy, along with other purposes, is widely considered to be one of the worst video games ever produced and even a big contributor to the video game crash of 1983.

The Marketing Spike vs. The Product

While business blogs love to frame Mars’ refusal as one of the worst marketing blunders in corporate history, time tells a very different story.

The E.T. promotion provided Reese’s Pieces with an unprecedented jumpstart, but marketing can only buy initial trial. It can’t force long-term consumer habits. Once the cultural mania surrounding the movie faded, consumers were left evaluating the candy on its own merits.

Compared to the balanced cocoa and crunch of an M&M or the rich filling of a standard peanut butter cup, Reese’s Pieces are intensely sweet, sugary, and flavor-profile limited. They movie provided a quick spike in trial sales and unlocked Movie Theater distribution, but Reese’s couldn’t convert a movie phenomenon into permanent market supremacy. Decades later, M&M’s remains the undisputed category leader, proving once again that while a viral cultural moment can launch a product, only product quality maintains the lead.

The Beer That Said Yes: How Coors Replaced Budweiser

Mars wasn’t the only corporate giant that got cold feet over Spielberg’s alien. When Universal sought a commercial beer brand for the famous kitchen scene, where E.T. raids the refrigerator while Elliott is at school, they first approached Anheuser-Busch.

Unlike Mars, the makers of Budweiser had an understandable, concern: the scene called for an underage kid to act visibly hammered. Corporate lawyers had little patience for sci-fi exposition explaining that Elliott wasn’t actually drinking, but merely experiencing a telepathic hangover while liberating dissection frogs in science class. Fearing immediate backlash from parent groups, Anheuser-Busch flatly refused.

Enter Coors. In 1982, the Colorado brewer was pushing hard into East Coast distribution while battling intense nationwide labor boycotts. Sponsoring an offbeat alien movie offered a chance to soften the brand’s image. Coors allowed E.T. to pop open their iconic yellow-and-gold cans and down them on the kitchen floor. The studio leaned so heavily into the association that they even partnered on a 1982 MADD-style public service announcement, cleverly twisting the movie’s signature catchphrase to urge tipsy drivers to “phone home” for a safe ride if they had too much to drink.

Along with Coors, products like Pez candy dispensers and Pizza Hut boxes found their way into Elliott’s suburban life. But while those brands complemented an already iconic blockbuster, Hershey remained the undisputed lottery winner, scoring the single most famous piece of confectionery screen time in Hollywood history.