Whatever Happened to Pacers Sweets?
Do you remember Pacers sweets? If you grew-up in the 1970s or 80s in the UK, then chances are you will remember Spearmint Pacers, which were originally launched by Mars as Opal Mints, a companion product to Opal Fruits.
The chewy spearmint square was originally all-white, and relaunched with the new name Pacers in 1976. In 1981, in an effort to boost flagging sales, three green stripes were added to both the sweets and the individual wrappers. The stripes had a peppermint flavour.
A 1981 TV advert was also launched to promote the new-look, with the slogan "Peppermint striped for two-mint freshness". It was filmed at an ice skating rink, with three stripes magically appearing on the uniforms of a male and female ice skater.
Celtic Football Club gained the nickname "The Pacers" as their home kit has a similar design to the sweets, featuring a white shirt with green stripes and matching socks. Their kit still features a similar design today.
Can you still buy Pacers?
Unfortunately, Pacers were discontinued by Mars in 1985, which is just a year after Mars discontinued another much-missed favourite from the era, Texan. I certainly remember sharing them out with my friends at school, and we were all very disappointed when we discovered that we could no longer buy them from the local sweet shop.
However, you can still buy Spearmint Chews, which are a very similar retro sweet and a recommended alternative.
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