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M&Ms Anyone?

  • Artigo

Any grocery store employee in the vicinity of Microsoft main campus in Redmond can tell you that Microsoft developers dig M&Ms. We can't get enough of the tasty little treats. And when there are no more chocolatey M&Ms available :-( we buy whatever other type of candy happens to be sitting nearby.

Why do Microsoft employees consume n times more M&Ms per capita than the rest of the world, on average?

By tradition, Microsoft employees celebrate our hire dates each year by placing one pound of M&Ms per year of service outside our offices.  While this tradition stretches back at least twelve years, I have seen as many as 14 pounds of M&Ms outside an office.

The two bowls of candy above announce the 6th anniversary of my favorite builder.  Congratulations, KR!

UPDATE:   I recently learned that this tradition has been attributed “to an employee named Hans Spiller, but he attributes the idea to Bob Scheulen.  Apparently they were both hired about one month apart in 1981 and got this idea on their ten-year anniversary (so in 1991).  Both have since retired, although Hans was still around to continue the tradition on his 15th anniversary.”

Comments

  • Anonymous
    April 27, 2004
    You weren't at my office last year then. I decided to do 19 bags of M&M's instead to cut down the volume.

    It wasn't pretty :)

    We're still not sure what we're going to do this year.
  • Anonymous
    April 28, 2004
    This is a Microsoft-wide tradition (on main campus at least), not just the Developer Division.
  • Anonymous
    April 28, 2004
    Yes, I know. Didn't want to overstate the breadth of adoption. After posting this, I was contacted by the folks at the Microsoft Museum (!) who are researching the roots of this tradition and plan to publish a write up in the near future. I can't wait to see it.
  • Anonymous
    May 16, 2004
    wow thats nuttz!!! haha i like the peanut ones tho...iight peace
  • Anonymous
    June 29, 2005
    Yesterday was my 6-year anniversary at Microsoft, so I guess I was at the same orientation as Heather!...
  • Anonymous
    June 29, 2005
    Yesterday was my 6-year anniversary at Microsoft, so I guess I was at the same orientation as Heather!...