Chicagoans getting free chocolate

CHICAGO, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- An unscientific survey of 350 U.S. cities has found that Chicagoans are most in need of a little joy, a candy company says.

The city that poet Carl Sandburg called "hog butcher for the world" is going to receive free chocolate from Mars Snackfood, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.

The company says Chicago topped New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland as the city most in need of chocolate.

Mars plans to give away 50,000 samples of its M&M's, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Dove and 3 Musketeers between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday at Pioneer Plaza on Michigan Avenue.