CONSUMER BRIEFS / CANDY

Chocoholics rejoice: There are free candy bars to be had every Friday through the end of September.

Each week, Mars Snackfood U.S. will host Free Chocolate Fridays starting at 9 a.m. (EDT) until 11:59 p.m. The first 250,000 people to register at Realchocolate.com during that period will receive a coupon for a free, full-size chocolate bar.

The site has been jammed with an onslaught of visitors hoping for a shot at goodies from the M&M;, Milky Way, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Twix and Dove brands.

Mars expects to give away as many as 7 million packages over the course of the promotion, which began May 8. The coupon takes several weeks to be mailed, and each e-mail address is allowed just one coupon a week. Households can request four coupons during the offer period.