Black Thunder (chocolate bar)

Black Thunder
ブラックサンダー

A Black Thunder bar.
Product type	Chocolate bar
Owner	Yuraku Confectionery Co., Ltd.
Country	Japan
Introduced	1994
Markets	Japan
Website	Black Thunder website

Black Thunder (ブラックサンダー, Burakku Sandā) is a chocolate bar made and sold in Japan by the Yuraku Confectionery Company (有楽製菓株式会社, Yūraku Seika kabushiki gaisha). It contains a cocoa-flavored cookie bar mixed with Japanese-style rice puffs, coated with chocolate. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is ¥30, before tax. The main advertising slogan translates to "Delicious taste in a flash of lightning!" The story of the Yuraku Confectionery Company and its Black Thunder bar has been treated in the Japanese business press as something of a modern-day rags to riches story.

The Black Thunder bar was conceived as an easily marketable candy bar with three popular components and a reasonable price. The name was partially inspired by the Japanese god of thunder. Black Thunder bars were first made in a factory in the city of Toyohashi in 1994. The target demographic was university students in the Kantō region and sales growth depended mostly on word-of-mouth recommendations. Through a series of marketing deals starting in 2004, sales of Black Thunder gradually climbed. In 2008, the Yuraku Confectionery company sponsored the Men's Gymnastics team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and brand recognition correspondingly increased.

Starting in 2008, Yuraku Confectionery company began developing and marketing variations on the Black Thunder bar. Similar products in the same line include the Big Thunder, Black Thunder Minibar, White Black Thunder, and the Morning Thunder breakfast bar. In 2009, Yuraku began collaborative efforts with other agencies to develop related products inspired by the Black Thunder candy bar.