M&Ms says it is pulling its beloved ‘spokescandies’ after right-wing outrage over sneakers, gender

Sweet maker Mars stated Monday it’s changing its M&Ms “spokescandies” with actress Maya Rudolph after going through right-wing criticism over its mascot makeover.

The spokescandies are a staff of cartoon M&Ms mascots which have represented the model in commercials and different advertising supplies since 1960. Early final 12 months, the sweet model up to date the cartoons and its advertising, rebranding every mascot with a brand new backstory, clothes and character to be extra inclusive.

The inexperienced M&M, for instance, had beforehand drawn criticism for being marketed as too attractive, so the corporate switched out her knee-high heeled boots for sneakers and put extra emphasis on her feminist values. “Orange” grew to become a mascot riddled with nervousness, and the corporate added a brand new purple M&M, which was designed to signify inclusivity.

The rebrand caught the attention of conservatives, together with Fox Information host Tucker Carlson, on the time of the replace and once more in latest weeks, with some claiming the makeovers had been one other instance of a liberal agenda gone too far.

“Within the final 12 months, we have made some modifications to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t certain if anybody would even discover. And we undoubtedly did not assume it could break the web,” M&Ms stated in a press release Monday on Twitter. “Now we get it — even a sweet’s sneakers could be polarizing … Due to this fact, now we have determined to take an indefinite pause on the spokescandies.”

M&Ms didn’t instantly reply to a request for added remark.

Rudolph stated she is going to take the place of the enduring mascots simply forward of the important thing Tremendous Bowl promoting occasion: “I’m a lifelong lover of the sweet, and I really feel prefer it’s such an honor to be requested to be a part of such a legendary model’s marketing campaign,” she stated in an interview Monday with NBC’s TODAY.

Representatives for Rudolph didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Mars in December introduced it could make its return to the Tremendous Bowl promoting slate with a 30-second spot through the recreation Feb. 12. The corporate teased the industrial with a picture of its seven M&M characters, silhouetted on a soccer discipline.

“The newest marketing campaign extends our purposeful work over the past 12 months however is rooted in a brand new artistic territory, and we won’t await our followers to see what’s about to unfold,” Chief Advertising Officer Gabrielle Wesley stated in a press release on the time.

Correction: A photograph caption on this story has been up to date to appropriate the spelling of Maya Rudolph’s identify.