(Republicaninformer.com)- Last week, Mars, Inc., the maker of M&M’s announced it will discontinue its “spokes-candy” characters following a flood of negative responses from consumers critical of the “woke” turn the candy company had taken.
The controversy was sparked last year after Mars, Inc. released a “refreshed” look for their cartoon mascots to make them “reflect today’s society.” Several of the cartoon candies underwent a significant redesign, with the Green candy swapping out her high-heeled boots for sneakers and the Brown candy getting sensible heels. Additionally, the company introduced a Purple female character to appeal to the LGBTQ movement.
The make-over prompted Fox News host Tucker Carlson to slam the company for making the candy characters “less sexy” and “too woke.”
Tucker blasted M&M’s on his show, saying they wouldn’t be satisfied until all of the cartoon candies become “deeply unappealing and totally androgynous.” He said the goal is to ensure “you wouldn’t want to have a drink with any one of them.”
In a statement posted on Twitter, Mars Inc. said when it made the changes to the candy characters, it wasn’t sure people would notice and it “didn’t think it would break the internet.” The company said now it knows that “even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing.”
It announced an “indefinite pause” on the cartoon candies and said it was replacing them with actress Maya Rudolph, adding that it was “confident” that the former Saturday Night Live star “will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong.”
In a statement, Rudolph said she was “thrilled” to take over as M&M’s spokeswoman, describing herself as a “lifelong lover of the candy.”
Rudolph will make her first appearance as the face of M&M’s in the candy’s upcoming Super Bowl ad on February 12. While she didn’t reveal the details of the commercial, Rudolph said there would be “lots of fun” moments in the ad.
