The 7 Steps October
1. CONTEXT
Mindmap
anything you
know about thetopic, including
vocabulary. Do
some research
online to help.

Mars

Listening Questions 1
1. What experience led to Frank Mars starting his own company?
.

2. QUESTIONS

2. What was the original company name of Mars Inc?
.
3. How much was the company’s sales total in the year that it launched
Milky Way?

Read the listening
questions tocheck yourunderstanding.
Look up any new
vocabulary.

.
4. What 2 hit products launched in the early 30s?
.
5. Who took over the business after the founder passed away?
.
Listening Questions 2

3. LISTEN

1. How many employees did Mars Inc. have around the world in 2017?
.

Listen and answer
the questions
using fullsentences. Circle
the number oftimes and % you
understood.

2. What products apart from chocolate have Mars started to manufacture?
.
3. How much did Mars and Berkshire Hathaway pay to acquire Wrigley?
.
4. Which Mars-owned pet food brands make over $1 billion in yearly sales?
.
5. In 2013, what was the #1 Halloween product handed out in the US?
.

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Listening 1
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1Listening 2
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Discussion Questions
1. What are some other interesting origin stories for famous
businesses in Japan?
2. What are some other examples of companies expanding theirproduct range in different areas?

4. CHECK ANSWERS
TRANSCRIPT 1
Read through thetranscript andunderline theanswers. Checkthem against yourown answers.

The founder of Mars Inc, Frank C. Mars, suffered from polio as a child so his mother had toteach him at home. While they were at home, she also taught him how to make hand-dippedchocolate candy. After this experience he founded the Mar-O-Bar Company in 1920 inMinneapolis, USA. It became Mars Inc in 1929.

5. CHECK VOCABULARY
Read thetranscript andcircle any new
vocabulary youfind. Look themup and add themto your list.

In 1922, the first chocolate bar that the company sold, the Mar-O-Bar, was not a hit andgenerated less than $100,000 in sales. The following year, the company introduced the Milky
Way chocolate bar which was a huge hit and boosted sales to $793,000. In the early 30s,Snickers and 3 Musketeers bars were launched and both products have been sold for over 80
years now. In 1934, Frank C. Mars passed away and his son, Forrest, took over the business.
Under Forrest’s leadership, Mars Inc diversified its business and introduced more hit products
such as M&M’s.

Suffer

Hit

Generate

Acquisition

Hand out

Fill-in the blanks with the appropriate word / phrase above:

1. The company wants to _______________ a lot of sales over the holiday
period.
2. The company’s image ______________ from a lot of controversial scandals.
3. The latest installment of the movie was a big ____________ among fans.
4. Some people felt __________ fliers was no longer a viable solution.
5. The baseball team was extremely happy with their _______________ of aninternational player for next season.

6. READ ALOUD

Read thetranscript aloudat least 5 times,
focusing on
intonation andpronunciation.

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7. SHADOWING

223344The modern-day Mars Inc is still family-owned and one of the biggest family-owned companies
in the US. In 2017, it had net sales of over $35 billion and over 100,000 employees worldwide.
The business has expanded far beyond chocolate to include chewing gum, drinks, pet food andother pet care products.
In 2008, Mars entered the chewing gum market by acquiring the Wrigley Company, which is theworld’s largest chewing gum manufacturer, for $23 billion. Berkshire Hathaway, the holding
company that is led by Warren Buffett, joined Mars in the acquisition as a minority shareholder.

Say the transcript
aloud at the sametime as the audio
without reading
it. Circle how
many times
below.

11

TRANSCRIPT 2Three of Mars’ pet food brands (Whiskas, Pedigree, and Royal Canin) each generate over $1
billion in sales per year.
In the US, October is one of the biggest periods for Mars’ chocolate products. In 2013, Mars
had over $1 billion in Halloween chocolate sales for the first time and Snickers was the numberone product handed out to kids.

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