
The imposing building that houses
M&M's World is easily distinguishable from those around it. This is not solely because of its ample size but is also because of the recognisable red and yellow characters mounted on the shop's façade.
These characters lure potential customers through the shop's enormous glass doors for two pivotal reasons, which I identified as a customer myself. The red and yellow characters are now associated with the entertainment their humorous advertisements brings and also, of course, they are associated with the lure of chocolate.
In this happy, expectant mindset I allowed myself to be swallowed by the crowd of potential customers swarming into the shop. The comforting, delicious scent of chocolate wafted through the building tempting me over the shop's threshold.
I was immediately arrested by the mirage of colours stretching upwards with the ascending staircase as I entered the shop. Customers were able to have their photograph taken alongside an M&M's character. The novelty of being able to pose for a photograph beside characters that I had only ever seen on a screen or in a sweet bag thrilled and excited me. The thrill and excitement was born from the nostalgia of the photograph opportunity. This was a yearning for my childhood and the blissful, easy memories I had tied up with chocolate. This nostalgia makes a trip to M&M's World, the largest sweet shop in the world, as enjoyable and diverting an experience for adults as it is for children.
The history of not just the M&M's brand of chocolate but of chocolate itself is stamped across the walls of the shop serving to attract parents as it is something educational to do over the weekend or in the summer. The M&M's World target market is evidently inclusive of adults as there are quirks within the shop that would only be noticed and understood by an adult. One such example is that M&M's characters within the shop are posed like the Beatles, just as they appeared on the cover of their Abbey Road album.
M&M's World successfully appealed to this tourist. I would strongly advise a trip to M&M's World if you are ever in Leicester Square, London with children or without.