Editing Kit Kat (section)

{{Short description|Chocolate-covered wafer bar}}
{{other uses|Kit Kat (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox brand
| name                   = Kit Kat
| logo                   = Kit kat logo17.png
| logo_size = 200
| image                  = KitKat.jpg
| image_size             =
| caption                = Standard four-finger Kit Kat
| producttype            = Confectionery
| currentowner           = [[Nestlé]]<br />[[The Hershey Company|Hershey's]] (US licence)
| country                = United Kingdom
| introduced             = {{start date and age|1935|09|df=yes}}
| discontinued           =
| related                = [[Rolo]]
| markets                = Worldwide
| previousowners         = [[Rowntree's|Rowntree]] (1935–1988)
| trademarkregistrations =
| ambassadors            =
| tagline                = "Have a break...Have a Kit Kat!"<br />(Worldwide)<br />"Gimme a break, Gimme a break, Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar!", "Break time, anytime"<br />(US only)
| website                = {{URL|https://www.kitkat.com/|kitkat.com}}
}}

'''Kit Kat''' (stylised as '''KitKat''' in various countries) is a [[chocolate]]-covered [[wafer]] bar [[Confectionery|confection]] created by [[Rowntree's]] of [[York]], England. It is produced globally by [[Nestlé]] (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988),<ref>{{cite web|title=Nestlé UK Website – History of Rowntree|url=http://www.nestle.co.uk/OurBrands/AboutOurBrands/ConfectioneryAndCakes/History+of+Rowntree.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318003315/http://www.nestle.co.uk/OurBrands/AboutOurBrands/ConfectioneryAndCakes/History%2Bof%2BRowntree.htm|archive-date=18 March 2007|access-date=4 April 2007|quote=1988 – Nestlé SA buys Rowntree plc.}}</ref> except in the United States, where it is made under [[licence]] by the [[H. B. Reese|H. B. Reese Candy Company]], a division of the [[The Hershey Company|Hershey Company]] (an agreement Rowntree's first made with Hershey in 1970).<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news |title=In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn't Just a Chocolate. It's an Obsession |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/24/magazine/candy-kit-kat-japan.html |access-date=8 June 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=24 October 2018 |last1=Rao |first1=Tejal }}</ref>

The standard bars consist of two or four pieces called fingers composed of three layers of wafer, separated and covered by an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger can be snapped from the bar separately. There are many flavours of Kit Kat, including milk, white, and [[dark chocolate]].

The original four-finger version of the bar was developed after a worker at Rowntree's York factory put a suggestion in the recommendation box for "a chocolate bar that a man could take to work in his pack up".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nestle.co.uk/en-gb/aboutus/history/blog/posts/kitkatturns80 |title=KitKat is named after a man called Christopher |date=28 August 2015 |access-date=12 April 2020 |publisher=Nestlé |archive-date=12 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412004015/https://www.nestle.co.uk/en-gb/aboutus/history/blog/posts/kitkatturns80 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp, and the later two-finger version was launched in 1936. It was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937, and just Kit Kat after World War II.<ref name="First commercial"/>

Since making its first television appearance in a British commercial in 1958, the [[Advertising slogan|slogan]] for the Kit Kat in the UK and elsewhere has been "Have a break... have a Kit Kat".<ref name="First commercial"/><ref name="Slogan">{{cite news |title=Kit Kat: Meccano|url=https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-kit-kat-meccano-1969-online |access-date=24 November 2021 |agency=[[British Film Institute|BFI]]}}</ref><ref name="Archive">{{cite news |title=Kit Kat 1955-1959 |url=http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/kit-kat-1955-1959 |access-date=28 July 2019 |work=Yorkshire Film Archive |archive-date=22 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522001202/http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/kit-kat-1955-1959 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since 1986 in the US, the jingle used in television advertisements has been "Gimme a break, Gimme a break, Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!"<ref>{{cite web|date=11 June 2020|title=The Story Behind the Music: The Iconic Kit Kat Jingle|url=https://nerdbot.com/2020/06/11/story-behind-the-music-the-kit-kat-jingle/|access-date=23 November 2020|website=NERDBOT}}</ref>