The makers of M&M’s say its famous “spokescandies” are no more. The characters have been featured in the candy brand’s ads for decades but will no longer be used after being criticized for allegedly recreating the looks of the spokes candies to be “Woke M&M’s.”

 

What Happened

Monday, a letter was posted to the social media accounts of M&M’s stating for the candy’s Super Bowl LVII commercial, the “spokescandies” are being replaced with actress Maya Rudolph. The message says the company is taking an “indefinite” pause from the “spokescandies.”
The candymaker acknowledged it was not aware that changes to the look of the candies, including shoes, would be “polarizing.” The company stated, “the last thing M&M’s wanted since we’re all about bringing people together.”

 

(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Backstory

How did the changing of a mascot’s look become so controversial? Here’s what sparked the change. Last year, both female M&M’s high heels were replaced. The green M&M’s heels were replaced with flats, and the brown M&M’s were replaced with smaller comfortable ones. While the candymaker assumed no one would notice, Fox anchor Tucker Carlson did see.

Carlson went on a rant, saying, “M&M’s will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous.” He said, “When you’re totally turned off, we’ve achieved equity. They’ve won.”  Later, the candy brand released a new purple M&M, and the others had some alterations done to their look. Carlson responded to the second go-round of changes saying the green M&M got its boots back but was a lesbian. He also mentioned the purple M&M was obese. The candymaker has never responded to the comments until announcing Maya Randolph would replace them.

 

What’s Next

The candy’s super bowl commercial teaser showed an image of all seven M&M characters. What changes are being made to the commercial now are unknown. M&M’s candymaker is slated for a thirty-second spot during the game on February 12th.

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