History of Kit Kat

The origins of the "Kit Kat" brand go back to 1935, when Rowntree's, a confectionery company based in York in the United Kingdom, trademarked the terms "Kit Cat" and "Kit Kat". Although the terms were not immediately utilised, the first conception of the Kit Kat appeared in the 1920s, when Rowntree launched a brand of boxed chocolates entitled "Kit Cat". This continued into the 1930s, when Rowntree's shifted focus and production onto its "Black Magic" and "Dairy Box" brands. With the promotion of alternative products the "Kit Cat" brand decreased and was eventually discontinued.[2] The original four-finger bar was developed after a worker at Rowntree's York Factory put a suggestion in a recommendation box for a snack that "a man could take to work in his pack".[3] The bar launched on 29 August 1935, under the title of "Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp" (priced at 2d), and was sold in London and throughout Southern England.[4]
The product's official title of "Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp" was renamed "Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp" in 1937, the same year that 'Kit Kat' began to incorporate "Break" into its recognisable advertising strategy.[2] The colour scheme and first flavour variation to the brand came in 1942, owing to World War II, when food shortages prompted an alteration in the recipe. The flavour of "Kit Kat" was changed to "dark"; the packaging abandoned its "Chocolate Crisp" title, and was adorned in blue.[5] After the war the title was altered to "Kit Kat" and resumed its original milk recipe and red packaging.

4-finger Kit Kat
Following on from its success in the United Kingdom, in the 1940s "Kit Kat" was exported to Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. During the same decade Donald Gilles, the executive at JWT Orland, created the iconic advertising line "Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat". The brand further expanded in the 1970s when Rowntree created a new distribution factory in Germany to meet European demand, and established agreements to distribute