M&M’s Efforts To Be ‘More Inclusive’ Met With Mockery On Twitter

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Mars, Incorporated, the producer of the popular M&Ms, announced this week that its famed characters will get a “modern makeover” and that will include more “nuanced personalities,” as part of a “global commitment to creating a world where everyone feels they belong and society is inclusive.”

You can’t change the colors

Every day more than 400,000,000 of these colorful chocolates with candy coatings are made and consumed around the world. Original colors were red, yellow and green. In 1949, tan replaced violet – only to be replaced by blue in 1995.

But those same colors aren’t going anywhere. Rather, it is the personas of the M&Ms that are getting a makeover.

As TheHill.com reported, the current green M&M character, which has been seen in ads posing seductively and wearing white go-go boots, will now sport a pair of sneakers instead. In addition, the description for the green candy on the M&M’s website noted that she enjoys “being a hypewoman for my friends.”

Via the M&M’s promotional site, the green M&M character added, “I think we all win when we see more women in leading roles, so I’m happy to take on the part of supportive friend when they succeed.”

Another character, the brown M&M, described her motto as, “Not bossy. Only the boss.

Social Media Takes Action on the Change

Mars, Incorporated stated that the announcement was part of the evolved M&M’s brand’s strategy built on purpose, which “promises to use the power of fun to include everyone, with a goal of increasing the sense of belonging for 10 million [sic] people around the world by 2025,” and added, “The new global commitment from M&M’s is just one of many actions being taken across Mars, Incorporated to create a world where society is inclusive.”

But, it’s possible that the social media reaction was different than Mars, Incorporated had expected. Twitter was largely mocking and condemning.

The official Twitter account for the Candace Owens Show tweeted, “This is a huge win for the oppressed M&Ms.”

“I worry the ‘more inclusive’ M&Ms will get more coverage than the actual climate issues affecting global candy production,” wrote reporter Karen K. Ho (@karenkho).

Jezebel.com editor Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) found little humor in the story, tweeting, “Losing the voting rights bill and getting woke M&Ms instead feels about right.”

Political commentator Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) tweeted,  “M&Ms are not only fictional, but also literally a rainbow, and yet still they are apparently not diverse enough.”

Writer Daniel Kibblesmith (@kibblesmith) was among those poking fun, “This is pretty ambitious considering the M&Ms already have more gay characters than every sitcom.”

Author Emma Berquist (@eeberquist) also found humor, “thank you m&ms for standing for progressive values. From now on, I won’t eat gay food.”

“Imagine thinking that we’re a more dynamic society in 2022 than the one that fought WW2 when M&Ms were introduced in 1941,” wrote Darryl Cooper of the Martyr Made Podcast (@martyrmade).

Andi Zeisler, writer and editor (@andizeisler), mocked the announcement. She wrote, “Women: All our lives would be better if there were things like universal pre-K and affordable childcare and paid family leave. We’d also have the opportunity to make educated decisions about our reproductive futures.”

Capitalism: Lol no but please enjoy these feminist M&Ms”

“@MarsGlobal to make M&Ms ‘more inclusive’ as it sponsors the Beijing 2022 Uyghur Genocide Olympics,” tweeted human rights activist Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch (@HillelNeuer).

Host of the P.A.S. Report Nicholas Giordano summarized the events in the news as “The dumbest thing of all.” OMG…They’re friggen’ M&Ms.”

They will not melt in your hands.

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