M&Ms’ candy mascots have been put on pause after the revamped characters drew attacks from conservatives like Tucker Carlson, who publicly slammed the candy campaign for being “woke.”
M&Ms launched limited edition packaging that featured slogans like “Supporting Women” and images of the brown, green and newly added purple female spokescandies taking feminist stances. A portion of sales profits went to feminist charities.
The green candy — “Miss Green” — used to be presented as a sexy and feminine, but the new rebranding of her image to make her more “inclusive” involved toning down her eyelashes, removing references to her gender and putting her in tennis shoes.
Fox News personality Carlson attacked the alleged sexuality and weight of the candy mascots in a segment dedicated to slamming the brand’s new image. “The woke M&M’s are back,” Carlson said in early January. “The green M&M is now a lesbian maybe,” he said, adding that “there is also a plus-sized, obese purple M&M.”
He previously mocked the new marketing campaign in Jan. 2022. At the time, Mars Wrigley, the company behind M&Ms, explained that the changes were designed to demonstrate their “Global commitment to creating a world where everyone feels they belong and society is inclusive.”
M&M’s have gone WOKE!
Mars, the company behind M&M’s, launched a nuclear strike in the war on men by unveiling a package with ONLY the female M&M’s.
This is sexist and NOT inspirational AT ALL!
We must BOYCOTT M&M’s until the alpha male M&M’s get their own exclusive package.
— Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (@NickAdamsinUSA) January 11, 2023
Carlson disagreed emphatically. “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,” he said.
Conservative personality Nick Adams agreed with Tucker and blasted the candy company on Twitter. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Rips ‘nWoke’ American For ‘Complimenting’ The Chinese Communist Party’s ‘Co-Parenting’)
“Every American with half a brain should be outraged by M&M’s going woke,” he tweeted on Jan. 11. He went on to claim that “manhood is under attack like no other time in world history.”
Mars Wrigley took note of the widespread criticism and released a statement Monday notifying fans of yet another change surrounding their marketing campaign.
A message from M&M’S. pic.twitter.com/EMucEBTd9o
— M&M’S (@mmschocolate) January 23, 2023
“America, let’s talk. In the last year we’ve made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice,” the statement read. “And we definitely didn’t think it would break the internet. But now we get it – even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing. Which was the last thing M&M’s wanted since we’re all about bringing people together.”
“Therefore we have decided to take an indefinite pause from the spokescandies. In their place, we are proud to introduce a spokesperson America can agree on: the beloved Maya Rudolph,” the statement continued.
The press release described the new role Rudolph, a comedian known for her stint as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member and for other film and television roles, will be taking on.
“We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong,” the message from M&Ms read.