Destroying M&Ms

Before I start this article I just want to say that I am a big fan of the M&Ms. They’re tasty, fun to eat, and colourful. I would even go as far as to say that they’re a staple in the Candy Critic’s diet.

With that said let’s wreck us some M&Ms…

Now you're probably saying to yourself, “Why pick on the defenceless M&Ms, what did they do to deserve that?” It’s really simple actually. M&Ms are the only candy that have ever claimed to be strong. According to the lovely people at M&Ms, these powerhouse candies “melt in your mouth, not in your hands”. Sure this doesn’t sound like much, but I think it takes a lot of courage to claim that your candy is not only tasty, but that it can endure a certain amount of abuse.

So this is where it stands. According to M&M, their candy can take some abuse. I say, let’s not only test their theory; let’s take it a little further. These candies may never claim to be able to hold up to what I want to do with them, but I say let’s take this idea over the top. Let’s see how much abuse an M&M can take.

Method	Pictures and video (Click on them to see a larger version or the full video)	Result Description
Microwave		The suprising thing about this is not what it looked like after it was in the microwave, but how long it took to look like that. We put it under the baked potato setting, twice, before it went bad. We were really suprised at the abuse it took on this one.
8-Story Drop		We weren't sure what was going to happen with this drop test. We figured it would either be too light and just land safely or it would be destroyed. Lucky for us it was destroyed, but the best part about it was the sound it made when it hit the ground. You can hear it on the video.
Run Over by a Street Car		This method won the award for more smooshed than ever thought possible. The street car didn't just flatten it, it made it part of the tracks. We really thought that it might get stuck on the wheel and disappear, but nope, it just really flattened it.
Run Over by a Car		The first picture is after one car clipped it, the second is what's left after another car took it away. We did find another piece about 5 feet away, but it's hard to tell what happened to the rest as we were dodging traffic seaching for the bits.
Hot Water		The first photo is without any water, the second is what happened the second we poured it on. It was amazing, the water just completly devoured the outer shell. I should mention that the water was at a full boil. The other interesting thing was how long it took from the point the colour went to where it actually started to break down, it had to be a good 5 minutes.
Vise		It got crushed...
Left on a running CPU chip		Nothing happened really. We ran this thing for, like, 20 minutes with no fan and just sat it on the CPU. How come these things burn out so easily yet they won't melt an M&M? Eventually it cracked and started to sweat a little, but we had really been expecting to clean out some major goo.
In my hands		The M&M was in my hand for approximately 20 minutes on a cold day, but I was walking. I'm sorry but this is the claim to fame. I understand when it might not hold up to an M80, but hey, who tests these things? If this is just a clever gimmick then I say they should change it, maybe something like melts in your mouth but not on your CPU.
M 80 Firework		We are not 100% sure what happened to this M&M. All I can tell you is that a piece of it did hit me in the temple. It hurt a little but I'm fine. The M&M, on the other hand, probably isn't ok.
Cherry Bombs		This was astounding, we actually started this experiment just putting one or two cherry bombs down with the M&Ms but they kept surviving, so eventually we went to two full packs, and it still made it. We figure that's enough abuse and the M&Ms have won this battle.
Bottle Rocket		I'm sure it's fine. Having said that, it did fly about 20 feet into the water, so I couldn't actually tell you. But it did make a cool noise, and it acatually took off on such a windy day. So it was a success for the entertainment value.
Big Crazy firecracker		BOOM! is what I have to say. I have no idea what happened to this fun little treat. It was either blown away in the initial launch or it was blown away when it exploded in the air.
Manual Lawn Mower		I'm not sure if the lawnmower did the damage here or if it was just because it was being pushed along the pavement. I wonder if this would have been different on grass?
Cinder Block		Well, you take a little candy and drop a cinder block on it. What happens is pretty obvious, it gets smushed. Really smushed.
Garage Door		Safety is really important when you want to be sure that children and the elderly are kept protected. It's what you might call the worst thing in the world when you're trying to destroy an M&M. This would have been cool if it weren't for the rubber bottom thingy on the door. It basically saved the M&M completely.
Toilet		Well, we dropped it in, we flushed, it went down. To be honest, the rest is a bit of a mystery to us, but we assume it's probably floating someplace very dark and smelly right now.
Drill		The drill spun, the M&M spun for a little while, then it fell apart. Pretty simple.
Gears		This was a last-minute idea, and I have to say setting this one up scared me the most. We found a garage door with all kinds of cool gears, so I stuck my fingers in it (not a wise thing to do) and watched the M&Ms get totally destroyed. I couldn't recommend more to anybody that you don't stick your fingers into one of these things.