Woke M&M Ads paused after attack by racist TV presenter

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The Mars brand recently launched Purple M&M.

M&M’s announced on Monday that it was pausing an advertising campaign featuring its iconic cartoon mascots, after the so-called “spokespeople” became the target of a Fox News brandon calling them “woke “.

M&M’s, which dates back to 1941, had sought to communicate a message of diversity in its brand image around different colors of sweet-shelled chocolates.

The Mars-owned brand recently introduced Purple, a color often associated with the LGBTQ community, calling the addition a symbol of “acceptance and inclusivity” in a September 2022 press release.

The candy maker followed up in January with the launch of an M&M’s package featuring only women-identified candies: green, brown and purple, with funds going to music and all-female business ventures.

But Fox News’ Tucker Carlson brushed off the post, sneering “woke M&M’s are back” earlier this month.

Carlson, who has used his widely watched program to tout the racist “great replacement theory” and other extremist views, also denounced M&M’s in January 2022 after the brand replaced the green character’s shoes with sneakers, which he deemed it “less sexy”.

“M&M’s won’t be satisfied until all the cartoon characters are deeply attractive and utterly androgynous,” Carlson said.

On Monday, the company made no mention of Carlson when announcing the marketing break, saying it didn’t think the character changes would “break the internet,” M&Ms said on Twitter.

“But we understand now – even candy’s shoes can be polarizing. That was the last thought M&M’s wanted since we all want to bring people together,” the brand said, adding that it had hired comedian Maya Rudolph. as spokesperson.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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