‘woke’ candies removed from commercials

In the commercials, the different colors of M&Ms show their ‘personality’. That’s it the manufacturer’s website to read that the orange M&M leaves the door in a panic, the blue one is always happy and the yellow likes scary stories. They also differ in appearance: the brown M&M wears glasses and heels, the green one has long eyelashes and wears sneakers, the blue one wears slippers.

When Mars, the producer of M&M’s, recently announced that it would start selling bags of female M&M’s, there was a lot of commotion. The bag contains only the green, brown and – as a new color – purple M&Ms. The purple M&M was introduced as a singer with a quirky character. The packaging of the new bags shows the three M&Ms upside down with the text ‘supporting women who are flipping the status quo’.

However, not everyone can laugh at the new characters and their personalities. Part of conservative America sees what they consider to be ‘woke’ developments with regret. Including the well-known television presenter Tucker Carlson covered it on his program on Fox News.

For example, the green and brown M&M in one of the ads held hands. “The green M&M may have her boots back, but she’s apparently a lesbian now,” Carlson said on Fox News. “And the purple M&M is obese.”

Another conservative commentator, Nick Adams, requested a formal apology from Mars. Adams also wants a male packaging. “These feminine M&Ms are a slap in the face to men everywhere.”

‘The goal is to bring people together’

The criticism from conservative quarters is not without consequences. In a statement, M&M’S said they had not expected the figures to polarize in such a way. “That was the last thing we wanted, because our goal is to bring people together. We didn’t even think the changes would be noticeable. That is why we have decided to put an end to it until further notice.”

In the new advertising campaigns, the animated sweets are replaced by the American comedienne and actress Maya Rudolph.