The Green M&M’s Goodbye?
Green M&M for Reference
Since their debut in 1995, a special Green candy has been a point of interest across the internet. The Green M&M, also known as Ms. Green, is a Spokescandy for the candy company Mars. Their introduction was a result of sales of Mars rapidly declining. Mars hired BBDO, a marketing agency to make their beloved M&Ms more “iconic.” Along with Ms. Green, BBDO made the Red, Yellow, and Blue M&M Spokescandies as well. Their personalities are as follows:
- Red: Sarcastic
- Yellow: Simple
- Blue: Cool
- Green: Seductive…
Yeah… you can see where this is going. When the original creators, Susan Credle & Steve Rutter, of the Green M&M Spokescandy were creating Ms. Green, they claimed to have gotten their influence from Candice Bergen from Murphy Brown and Dixie Carter from Designing Women. “They were supposedly an aphrodisiac. So Green would be the first female character—the sexy, confident, in-control femme fatale.”(Credle) When they were first assigned the task, the two rookie BBDO creative partners knew this would be challenging, due to Mars not having an excellent reputation in marketing. However, after 6 months of hard work, the rookie duo created a few of the most well-known characters to appear on TV.
On January 20th, 2022, Mars made the decision to give the Green M&M a “fresh new look” by getting rid of their boots and replacing them with sneakers. As expected, all H E double hockey sticks broke loose. People claimed this change to sneakers suggested women could not hold a position of power while wearing heels. While most people stuck to their opinions in silence, Tucker Carlson became a person of interest when he talked about the “woke” change on Fox News. “…So in its ad campaign Mars set about making its M&M characters as unattractive as possible because when you’re intentionally repulsive it’s clear you got the right politics…M&M’s will not be satisfied until every last cartoon is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous.”(Carlson)
Unfortunately, on January 23rd, 2023, a tweet from the official M&M’s Twitter page revealed a tragic turn of events. It was announced that the Spokescandies would take an “indefinite pause.” However, Maya Rudolph, an American Actress, Comedian, & singer, will be taking the Spokescandies’ place. The tweet quotes “We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong.” Though this new change of Spokecandies to Spokesperson will be an interesting new change, it will ultimately never be the same as the “iconic” M&M Spokescandies.
Many people believe this could be an advertising stunt for M&Ms due to the upcoming Superbowl on February 12th. This wouldn’t be the first time companies have killed off characters to bring them back in commercials during the Superbowl, with one of the most recent examples being Mr. Peanut being killed off in the 2020 Superbowl. The sudden change to Maya Rudolph raises the suspicion of many, due to the fact that the Superbowl is right around the corner. While nothing has been confirmed, many suspects the M&M Spokescandies will be making their return just in time for Valentine’s day.
Author’s Note: 50 students were asked if they would “date” the green M&M. 39/50 said yes, & 11/50 said no, meaning 78% of students would “date” the green M&M. Jeremiah Maingi says “Anyone that said they wouldn’t date the Green M&M is lying to themselves.” Do you hear that Landen Traylor? Keagan Mould gave No Comment… but we know what he’d pick.
Sources
Orlov, Alex. “Why is the green M&M so seductive? A look back at the chocolate’s sexist history.” Mic, 12 October 2016, https://www.mic.com/articles/154519/why-is-the-green-mandm-so-sexy-a-look-back-at-the-chocolates-sexist-history. Accessed 23 January 2023.
“A message from M&M’S.” Twitter, 23 January 2023, https://twitter.com/mmschocolate/status/1617518785686274052?t=Sxa0g_okTwEkNE_JN3vsfg&s=19. Accessed 23 January 2023.
Credle, Susan. “The Making of the M&M’s Characters, Advertising’s Classic Comedic Ensemble.” Muse by Clio, 22 July 2019, https://musebycl.io/clio60/making-mms-characters-advertisings-classic-comedic-ensemble. Accessed 24 January 2023.
Carlson, Tucker. “Our Response to the end of the obese and lesbian M&M spokescandies.” Twitter, 23 January 2023, https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1617705818337443843?t=MzD3c9fuhq5PzhfSPBm8Bg&s=19. Accessed 27 January 2023.
Me Like Candy. Me Like Video Game. Me Like Carroll High School. Me Like Music. Me Like Friends.