In 1968, Michele Ferrero raised the idea with his employees of a product that could be given to children so they could have a little "surprise" every day, based on the Italian tradition of large chocolate eggs given to children by their parents at Easter. Ferrero said that at first his attempt to follow through with this idea was unsuccessful after employees questioned the order he placed for a machine to make the chocolate eggs. They thought it would not make any money, since eggs are only for Easter. Ferrero also said that he wanted the product to have a higher milk content and make that a key part of its promotion; he believed mothers would respond well to the idea of giving their children more milk. Ferrero commissioned William Salice to realize the concept.