After a whirlwind of announcements, and then backtracking on those announcements, it turns out the M&M’s ‘spokescandies’ mascots are here to stay after all.
On Friday, a spokesperson from Mars Wrigley confirmed to the New York Times that the candy characters would be returning in an ad for the upcoming Super Bowl. The news comes after the company said, on Monday, that it would be pulling the characters from branding “indefinitely” and replacing the characters with the comedian Maya Rudolph.
The brand stunt takes advantage of the publicity from an older controversy. About a year ago, Mars Wrigley rebranded some of its M&M characters to be more inclusive, including a redesign of the green M&M that replaced her high-heeled boots with sneakers. Far-right conservative pundit and Fox News host Tucker Carlson condemned the change, at that time. And just a week ago Carlson mentioned it again, launching the M&M controversy back into the spotlight.
It’s a long and mangled story. Here’s how we got here.
Roughly a year ago, Mars Wrigley updated the look of its M&M’s characters, announcing an initiative to make the mascots fit a “more dynamic, progressive world.” As part of these changes, the company introduced new designs of some of M&M’s characters and wrote weirdly elaborate backstories for others. Most notably, the company made the green M&M less “sexy” by shortening her legs and replacing her high-heeled boots with sneakers.
At the time, the change prompted criticism from feminist activists — being hot isn’t a problem unto itself — as well as far-right conservatives, who cast it as another battle in the culture wars. In January 2022, Tucker Carlson criticized the rebrand during a segment on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Carlson revisited the topic on his show more recently, and ended up reigniting the conversation around it. “Woke M&M’s have returned,” Carlson said. “The green M&M got her boots back, but apparently is now a lesbian maybe? And there is also a plus-sized, obese purple M&M.”
In the last year, we’ve made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice. And we definitely didn’t think it would break the internet. But now we get it — even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing.
Rudolph expressed optimism about the brand deal to Today, saying, “I am a lifelong lover of the candy and I feel like it’s such an honor to be asked to be part of such a legendary brand’s campaign.”
At the time, it was hard to say if the social media sh*tstorm following Carlson’s comments prompted Mars Wrigley to stop using the mascots. It was possible that it could be a strange marketing ploy leading up to the Super Bowl, similar to how Planters killed Mr. Peanut and replaced him with Baby Nut. Now we know that it was indeed a giant troll. On Friday — just five days after Mars Wrigley announced it was pulling the candy mascots — the New York Times confirmed that the candies would return for the Super Bowl, and were here to stay.
“Rest assured, the characters are our official long-term spokescandies,” Mars Wrigley wrote in a statement to the New York Times, before saying that the candies are simply currently on a break.
When Mars Wrigley initially said it was pulling the candy mascots, it prompted everyone and their mom to comment on it. Users on Twitter quote-tweeted the original announcement over 22,600 times. The change became the standout news of the day, and now we know it was all to drum up hype for a Super Bowl ad. So next time someone asks who “won” the “culture wars,” you can say with confidence that the Mars Wrigley press relations team did.
Update (Jan. 27): Mars Wrigley confirmed to the New York Times that M&M’s ‘spokescandies’ mascots would be returning for the Super Bowl, and that they would remain brand representatives long-term. This story has been updated to reflect that new information.
The "spokescandies" that had long represented the brand were embroiled in controversy after M&Ms revamped the characters' appearances to be more "inclusive" last year. The two female M&M's became a flashpoint in the culture war because their outfits were swapped out for less traditionally feminine attire.
Candy maker Mars said Monday it is replacing its M&Ms “spokescandies” with actress Maya Rudolph after facing right-wing criticism over its mascot makeover. Rudolph will star in the candy brand's Super Bowl LVII commercial, Chief Marketing Officer Gabrielle Wesley told CNBC.
Courtesy Mars, Inc. Fox News derisively deemed the brand “woke” after the brand altered the characters' shoes. Tucker Carlson complained about the candy characters' new and, from his perspective, less “sexy” look. “M&M's will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing,” Carlson said.
I write about film, television, internet culture, and other fun stuff. Around this time last year, Tucker Carlson devoted a segment on his show to a bizarre rant about how the cartoon M&Ms used to advertise the candy had been redesigned to be “less sexy,” with the Green M&M swapping her boots for sneakers.
M&M's Tucker Carlson controversy: Maya Rudolph replaces spokescandies The Fox News host attacked the minor brand changes as "woke" and declared that M&M's wouldn't stop until "you're totally turned off." Maya Rudolph will replace the cartoons as M&M's spokeswoman.
The candy-colored controversy started last year when M&M's listened to long-standing criticism about how the two female characters were obviously sexualized -- in older advertisem*nts, Green and Brown were sometimes presented as "competing" for the male M&M's while Green would strike "sexy" poses.
On Jan. 24, Mars, Incorporated — the company that owns the M&M's brand — told the world that their iconic mascots would be replaced by comedian Maya Rudolph. The company said it was due to criticism of the brand getting “too political,” thanks to their controversial makeovers of the mascots last year.
Conservatives immediately suggested that the new purple candy must be transgender, and the candies were labeled “woke.” The last straw seemed to come in December when the candy introduced all-female packaging to promote International Women's Day.
According to M&M's parent company, Mars, Purple is “designed to represent acceptance and inclusivity.” She is charming and quirky, wears trendy lace-up boots and is “known for her earnest self-authenticity and confidence.”
FOX News host Tucker Carlson sparked outrage earlier this year, claiming that the changes to the Green M&M mascot were proof that the Mars company had gone 'woke. ' It appeared that Mars had bowed to the pressure, replacing the mascots with actress Maya Rudoplh – until tonight.
M&M's is a confectionary brand owned by Mars. The owner of M&M's, Mars, supports the zionist state by investing heavily in the foodtech startup scene through venture capital partner JVC. Don't buy M&M's products.
The brand piled onto the discourse with a 15-second teaser spot dropped yesterday in which Rudolph announces the rebranding, saying: “Since we all love M&M's — and let's face it, me — it only makes sense that I am renaming America's favorite chocolate candies 'Ma&Ya's.” The candy will not only bear her name but also ...
The rarest M&M color is generally considered to be brown. In the past, brown M&M's were discontinued for a period of time but were reintroduced in 1987 due to popular demand.
Carlson went so far as to call the Purple, Green, and Brown M&Ms “obese and distinctly frumpy.” His argument was that M&Ms were determined to brainwash their audience with body positivity messaging so that they'd… buy more candy. Why would Carlson attack fictional candies in such a vicious and personal way?
In 1976, Mars eliminated red-colored M&M's because of health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and replaced them with orange M&M's. This was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers.
This came after a surreal exchange with Fox News's Tucker Carlson. Carlson was apparently outraged by the fact that not only had the brown M&M stopped wearing stilettos, but the green M&M had also started wearing sneakers (and so obviously is now a "lesbian, maybe?").
Conservatives immediately suggested that the new purple candy must be transgender, and the candies were labeled “woke.” The last straw seemed to come in December when the candy introduced all-female packaging to promote International Women's Day.
In response, the candy brand has “decided to take an indefinite pause from the spokescandies,” replacing them with a “spokesperson America can agree on,” “the beloved Maya Rudolph.” “We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong,” the statement concluded.
M&M is withdrawing its "spokescandy" ads after Fox's Tucker Carlson railed about the candies' de-sexualization as part of a push for a "woke" society. Maya Rudolph is the new face of the ad campaign.
Introduction: My name is Kerri Lueilwitz, I am a courageous, gentle, quaint, thankful, outstanding, brave, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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