[brap]

Earlier this year, M&M's updated its cast of candy characters to better fit with the times.

The brand stopped using the prefixes "Mr." and "Ms." to place more focus on the mascots' unique traits, instead of their gender. Green traded in knee-high boots for casual sneakers. Brown transitioned from high stilettos to low block heels.

"We took a deep look at our characters, both inside and out, and have evolved their looks, personalities and backstories to be more representative of the dynamic and progressive world we live in," Jane Hwang, global vp of M&M's at parent company Mars Wrigley, told Adweek in January.

Today, the 80-year-old brand is taking another step in its mission to build a world where everyone feels they belong by debuting Purple, a spokescandy that will address issues of self-acceptance and inclusivity.

"What we're trying to do is create entertaining content and activations that help people see past their differences and focus on commonalities," said Rankin Carroll, chief brand and content officer at Mars Wrigley.

In a nearly 2-minute-long music video titled "I'm Just Gonna Be Me," Purple, the brand's first female peanut mascot, sings away her uncertainties, replacing self-doubt with self-confidence. The company created the spot in partnership with BBDO.

Carroll noted purple M&M candies will appear in limited-edition products from time to time, but will not join the other colors as a permanent part of the brand's core offerings.

M&M's first introduced its Red and Yellow candy characters in 1954. Blue, Green and Orange appeared in 1998, bringing the crew to five. Brown, the candy maker's latest spokescandy since Purple, arrived in 2012. All the mascots have undergone changes in look and tone throughout the years.

Purple's "I'm Just Gonna Be Me" is available for download on all major music streaming platforms, including Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music. Every time someone streams the song, M&M's will donate $1 (up to $500,000) to the nonprofit organization Sing for Hope.

M&M's Introduces a New Mascot All About Inclusivity

Purple is the candy brand’s first new character in a decade.

www.adweek.com

 

[HellforLeather]

We deserve the asteroid.

 

[King of Foxes]

Lol

How fitting, a "female" with nuts

 

[Dr. Farnsgoth]

> Jane Hwang

Of course a woman did this

 

[Bunta]

We're so inclusive and everyone is welcome, just be yourself. Here's a purple candy so everyone feels better.
Btw. you said you'd rather not join our staff's Christmas party as large crowds make you feel uncomfortable? Your career is already over.

 

[Grinchy]

?

Purple, the brand's first female peanut spokescandy

lmao what a sentence

and what a clown world

 

[Mickmrly]

I guess any publicity is good publicity. However, I don't really eat M & M's that often and this won't make me rush out to buy anything.

 

[regawdless]

Yes. Another step towards the great global Utopia.

 

[BlackOlivesMatter]

Shortly after the announcement, the female purple M&M was gang raped and murdered by a large group of brown M&M's

 

[Optimus]

Pfff. Won't change anything. Everyone already knows the best M&M of all is the Reese's Pieces.

 

[kiNeMs]

Are there any white M&Ms?

 

[Snes nes]

So I can't eat m&ms anymore?

 

[and 3 others]

Are there any white M&Ms?

Yes

 

[Night Sky]

I always thought M&Ms were named after the two Australian fellas who created them. (Him and him said in australian)

 

[cryptoadam]

Here eat our candy bitches so you can be fat pieces of shit. Your healthy and sexy at any wait amrite.

 

[teezzy]

Yes

That's red

 

[Stifler's Mom]

In a few years we will all just laugh about this weird time.

 

[Soodanim]

I always thought M&Ms were named after the two Australian fellas who created them. (Him and him said in australian)

Someone's been brushing up on their Rockbusters

Here eat our candy bitches so you can be fat pieces of shit. Your healthy and sexy at any wait amrite.

Weight a minute, cryppy lad. They're purple now, you have to buy them

 

[and 3 others]

That's red

Look at his arms

 

[teezzy]

Look at his arms

 

[Grumpy Karen]

Ah yes. "I'm just going to be me". Brought to you by the hollow platitude brigade of toxic and violent intent who spout faux-compassion phrases like:

"You are loved for who you are"
"Be your best self"
"Nobody has the right to tell you to change"
"Be kind"

Who also say:

"You are what's wrong with the world today"
"People who think like you are Nazis and deserve to die"
"You should change because I don't like your views"
"You don't love what I love. You can't possibly be a good person"

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Ah yes. "I'm just going to be me". Brought to you by the hollow platitude brigade of toxic and violent intent who spout faux-compassion phrases like:

"You are loved for who you are"
"Be your best self"
"Nobody has the right to tell you to change"
"Be kind"

Who also say:

"You are what's wrong with the world today"
"People who think like you are Nazis and deserve to die"
"You should change because I don't like your views"
"You don't love what I love. You can't possibly be a good person"

I am religious and grew up around religious people (both within my own and other religions) and so I have a sharp ear for sunday-school platitudes and hollow "life lessons" that are meant to make the speaker sound smart while making the listeners stupid. Another example of this would be those awful yard signs packed with one-liners like "Science is real" and "black lives matter" and "womens rights are humans rights", as well as the random "Be Kind" yard sign.

Right off the get, if you're the sort of person t o put out a yard sign -- even a political sign -- that tells me a lot about yourself, not purely good or bad but it says a lot about a person who can't get the attention they need from tattoos, bumper stickers, and social media so they've expanded into their own yard with a mini-billboard to make sure you know they support Our Most Precious Healthcare Heroes (or whatever).

Spotting the sort of person who gathers to themselves a collection of one-liners and bumper stickers instead of a real personality is becoming much easier nowadays. Conversely, the longer someone takes to explain themselves, the more earnest they are in trying to explain their point, etc (within reason) is a sign that the person is trying to avoid platitudes and is trying their best to say what they actually feel, what they actually think. Fleeing to platitudes is, among other problems, a symptom of laziness, since you are too lazy to think your own thought so you had to borrow someone else's, trying on a new opinion like trying on a new shirt.

 

[Grumpy Karen]

Agreed.

Which is why people who talk in detail and provide substance are met with purposefully disruptive activists who only know how to chant slogans and mantras. The human equivalent of a DDoS attack.