By Leila Rocha
M&M’S spokescandies have been in hot water lately… so hot they’ve melted. Their newly released Super Bowl commercial depicts Maya Rudolph sitting at a desk explaining how M&M’S candy will feature her face on them. This came along with a joke about how most everyone loves her and almost no one hates her.
Rudolph is a comedian and actress who has been in shows and films such as Saturday Night Live, Grown Ups, Bridesmaids, and Big Hero Six. She explained that she is excited to take part in M&M’S, telling TODAY.com : “I am a lifelong lover of the candy and I feel like it’s such an honor to be asked to be part of such a legendary brand’s campaign.” The commercial is light hearted, but the controversy over taking away the spokescandies is a bit heavier.
During these past months the brand has changed the characters so that they would be more inclusive in today’s society. For example, they said farewell to Green’s go-go boots and hello to sneakers, and they welcomed a Purple spokescandy that had heelless laced boots. The new spokescandy came in a limited edition pack for International Women’s Day. The Independent explained that the spokescandies (Green, Purple, and Brown) in the pack “are presented as women in the company’s advertising – meant to raise money for women in creative fields.”
For the Purple, the Global Vice President for the candy stated (according to CNN): “This was about ensuring that the entire crew, the entire cast of spokescandies, were reflecting the world that we’re living in.”
For a little more context, on January 23, 2023 the M&M’S brand shared this: “America, let’s talk. In the last year, we’ve made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice. And we definitely didn’t think it would break the internet. But now we get it – even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing. Which was the last thing M&M’S wanted since we’re all about bringing people together.”
Well some noticed…and it’s more than a few who have. The controversy regarding “a candy’s shoes” came about after the aforementioned switch from boots to sneakers. Many were upset that the brand was changing Green’s shoes that they felt were iconic.
There is even a petition entitled “Keep the Green M&M Sexy”. The petition that change.org user created has racked up over twenty-one thousand signatures. Its description includes: “Our beloved Green M&M, known for her sultry demeanor and for championing rights for bisexual and lesbians alike, will be stripped of her iconic knee-high boots, to be replaced with plain white sneakers[.]”
Others do not agree with the spokescandies change for a different reason. Fox News host Tucker Carlson believes that M&M’S is trying to make their spokescandies “as unattractive as possible” with their new looks. Regardless of which side you take (if any because there are some who believe that they are just candies) it is safe to say that the new looks are getting nasty glares from the candy’s fans and critics.
The remaining part of M&M’S tweet states: “Therefore, we have decided to take an indefinite pause from the spokescandies. In their place, we are proud to introduce a spokesperson America can agree on: the beloved Maya Rudolph. We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong.”
With all the excitement and controversy regarding Maya Rudolph replacing the spokescandies, M&M’S has confirmed that the spokescandies will not be gone forever, in fact their absence will be short-lived. They will be returning during the Super Bowl. Will the controversy continue?
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