Topline
Candy company Mars announced Monday it is putting its M&M’s “spokescandies”— the brand’s anthropomorphic sugary mascots—on an “indefinite pause,” after a new rollout featuring the characters became the subject of attacks from conservative pundits like Tucker Carlson, nearly one year after the brand received backlash for its “woke M&M’S.”
The M&M sign is illuminated at night in Times Square.
Key Facts
Earlier this month M&M’s launched limited edition packaging which had the words “Supporting Women” on them and featured the brand’s three female spokescandies: Brown, Green and newly introduced Purple.
It’s the first time M&M’s packaging has solely featured its female characters, and the initiative aimed to “celebrate women everywhere who are flipping the status quo”; money from the sale of the packages was donated to female-focused charities.
Fox News personality Carlson dedicated a segment to the candies, saying “the woke M&M’s are back,” the green M&M “is now a lesbian maybe” and “there is also a plus-sized, obese purple M&M.”
Conservative personality Nick Adams tweeted “every American with half a brain should be outraged by M&M’s going woke,” as “manhood is under attack like no other time in world history.”
In a Monday announcement, M&M’s said it “didn’t expect” for the changes it had made to its spokescandies to “break the internet,” and noted “even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing,” which is the last thing the brand wanted, “since we’re all about bringing people together.”
The spokescandies are being put on an “indefinite pause,” and are being replaced by comedian Maya Rudolph.
What We Don’t Know
It’s not clear how long the pause will last, or if the pause is part of some tee-up ahead of the Super Bowl for the brand’s commercial, as some have speculated on social media. In 2020, Planters killed off its mascot Mr. Peanut weeks before the big game. In a commercial that ran during it, he was reborn as Baby Nut.
Crucial Quote
“Will M&M’s still melt in your hands if they identify as trans?” Fox pundit Greg Gutfeld pondered last year, in a heated segment on his show dedicated to the “woke” candies.
Key Background
M&M’s received backlash last January when some of its candy mascots received makeovers to be more “inclusive.” The green M&M—who Gutfeld described as a “seductress”—had her boots traded out for sneakers, and the height of the brown M&M’s heels were lowered, a move that angered some. “M&M’s will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous. Until the moment you wouldn’t want to have a drink with any one of them. That’s the goal,” Carlson said. Carlson’s recent allegation that the green M&M is a lesbian comes from a widely-mocked 2015 tweet from the brand showing the character with the brown candy, captioned, “It’s rare Ms. Brown and I get to spend time together without some colorful characters barging in. – Ms. Green.”
Tangent
M&M’s characters appeared as far back in M&M’s commercials as 1954, in a commercial launching the peanut variety of the chocolate candy. One of the brand’s longest-running commercials, featuring the red and yellow candies scaring Santa Claus, first aired in 1996, and is still shown during the holiday season.
Further Reading
Tucker Carlson Is, Once Again, Mad About ‘Woke M&Ms’ (Forbes)
Tucker Carlson Widely Mocked After Criticizing ‘Less Sexy’ M&Ms (Forbes)