Do the men in your life love Clif bars? Have them try a Luna bar and you may just change their lives.
Luna Bars, created by Clif Bar & Company, are whole nutrition bars marketed particularly to women, with packaging designed to attract the eyes of ladies and send men running down the aisle looking for something more rugged.
No joke – their ingredients are even tailored to women, boasting the four key nutrients missing from most their diets: calcium, vitamin D, iron, and folic acid. These nutrients help support healthy growth and reproductive health in women.
Ladies love less calories- Luna bars are a lower caloric option compared to Clif bars. Though these bars are marketed at women, we asked men to taste and rank their favorite Luna bars from a selection of six distinctive varieties, yielding some pretty surprising results.
Caramel Nut Brownie
Photo by Aoife Leogue
“This bar is glistening.”
“What is this weird flavor?”
“I’m not feeling it.”
“Tastes like artificial chocolate, and its far too overpowering.”
Although I thought this bar sounded (and smelled) indulgent, my focus group of guys was turned off by the overpowering, artificial taste of chocolate. The caramel taste was masked by the strong desire to appeal to the chocolate senses, and resulted in an overall thumbs down from the men.
Average Grade: C-
Nutz Over Chocolate
Photo by Aoife Leogue
“I like the chocolate.”
“Nothing special about this bar.”
“The granola part is the best.”
“I wouldn’t eat a whole bar of this flavor.”
I certainly had mixed reviews on this bar, with grades ranging from a B to a D+. The men seemed polarized on which was the best part of the bar: the peanut butter flavored granola or the chocolate dipped bottom. Overall, the consensus was that this bar didn’t stand out from the wide world of granola bars and just seemed pretty average.
Average Grade: C+
White Chocolate Macademia
Photo by Aoife Leogue
“This is the blandest bar so far.”
“It has a slight nuttiness.”
“No pizzaz, its very standard.”
“Hard, but still ductile.” (I kid you not, this was one of the comments)
The guys were extremely surprised when I revealed the name of this bar. They were relatively unimpressed with the concept, obviously craving something beyond the bland, vanilla standard that they thought this was. Although they voted it better than the previous two chocolate bars, this one definitely left something to be desired.
Average Grade: C+
S’mores
Photo by Aoife Leogue
“I thought this was Nutella at first.”
“It’s flavorful, but I’m not a fan.”
“I like the chocolate.”
“Yeah, this chocolate is definitely the best chocolate so far.”
This bar, despite the boys’ obvious dislike for indulgent chocolate concepts, was one of the top ranked bars of the group. Although it only received an above average rating, they found the flavors to be well balanced and subtly sweet. The only downside of this bar was that they didn’t recognize it as a S’mores flavored bar, meaning that it didn’t particularly replicate the true flavor of a gooey, melty s’more.
Average Grade: B+
Chocolate Peppermint Stick
Photo by Aoife Leogue
“This isn’t something I would have thought to put with granola.”
“Very minty, and a great combination with the chocolate.”
“I feel like they just snuck the granola right in here!”
“Definitely not something I’d eat first thing in the morning”
The second most popular bar among those tested, Chocolate Peppermint Stick seemed to be a clear favorite among the group and the winner of all the chocolate-flavored bars. The minty addition to this bar, although not a substitute for brushing your teeth, seemed to be oddly refreshing. This one was definitely the most unique option, and the chocolate + mint combo seemed to be a good decision in the long run.
Average Grade: B+
Lemon Zest
Photo by Aoife Leogue
“I like this one. It tastes like lemon cake!”
“It’s not too overly sweet.”
“I’m not a big fan of lemon.”
“It’s tangy, zesty, and not too sweet. The lemon makes it.”
The Lemon Zest (coincidentally my favorite Luna bar) was the clear winner among the guys. It was clear that they weren’t looking for something too sweet, but they wanted a good depth of flavor. This bar seemed to satisfy on all fronts, and proved to be a unique alternative to most other granola bars on the market.
Average Grade: A
Overall, the guys admitted that they would eat their top three again, but they wouldn’t be likely to actually buy Luna bars in the future. Although the bars are perfectly acceptable for men to eat, the marketing strategy aimed at women tends to turn away male consumers.
However, a mother of one of the guys in my group told me that her son asked her specifically to buy the Lemon Zest Luna bars, and in my eyes, that seems like an overall win. As the people at Clif Bar & Company like to say, “Real men eat Luna!”
- Gif courtesy of giphy.com