M&M’s break in its spokespersons comes after a backlash from the right to changes to green and brown M&Ms and the addition of purple M&Ms.
Twitter/Screenshot by NPR
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Twitter/Screenshot by NPR
M&M’s break in its spokespersons comes after a backlash from the right to changes to green and brown M&Ms and the addition of purple M&Ms.
Twitter/Screenshot by NPR
M&M’s mouthpieces – the cartoon versions of the sweets that appear in ads – will be put on hiatus indefinitely. The move comes after Fox News’ Tucker Carlson spent months attacking minor branding changes to some of the characters as “woke.” Maya Rudolph, comedian and actress, will take her place.
Carlson, who spends much of his time telling viewers he’s a champion of cancel culture victims, waged a culture war campaign against candy until they were, literally, canceled – at least for now.
After the Brown M&Ms swapped their stilettos for inferior block heels and the Green M&Ms swapped go-go boots for sneakers, Carlson said “M&Ms won’t be satisfied until all the cartoon characters won’t be deeply attractive and totally androgynous,” and that when “you’re totally off, we’ve achieved equity.”
Announcing the discontinuation of colorful characters, M&M’s tweeted Monday: “We weren’t sure anyone would even notice” the earlier spokesperson change. “But now we get it – even candy’s shoes can be polarizing.”
In response to the tweet announcing the hiatus, Skittles tweeted, “Our thoughts are with the spokespersons.” Skittles and M&M’s are owned by the same parent company, Mars Wrigley.
Last fall, M&M’s introduced a new purple character, who Carlson called “obese” on his show. The Purple M&M is about the same size and shape as its yellow and blue male counterparts.
Rudolph will debut as the new spokesperson for M&M during the Super Bowl, a move that Mars Wrigley said was already underway. Rudolph is a biracial woman who raised money for Kamala Harris (not to mention representing the vice president on Saturday Night Live) and other Democrats who are the regular object of Carlson’s ire.
“We are confident that Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of pleasure to create a world where everyone belongs,” M&M’s said.