While the smiling M&M characters have been around for almost 70 years, 2022 has been the year they went through some big transformations — and got a lot of attention.
Back in January, Mars Wrigley's decision to make some subtle changes to the appearance of its two visibly female M&M characters — sneakers instead of high-heeled boots for Green and less dramatic high heels for Brown — caused an uproar among some segments of the internet.
"M&M's will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous," Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on his show at the time.
The conservative uproar over what were actually very minor changes was subject to much internet mockery and, within a few months, the discussion (and what ultimately ended up being great PR for Mars Wrigley) fizzled out.
Self-Expressive Purple
On Wednesday, the M&M maker once again reignited attention around its characters by announcing that it was adding another color to the its six-candy lineup.
Purple (all the characters are named as their colors) is the first new color to join Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Brown in the last ten years. She is a peanut M&M, wears lace-up combat boots and has a smiling but also quizzical expression portrayed by her slightly raised eyebrows.
"Designed to represent acceptance and inclusivity, our newest member is known for her earnest self-expression," Mars Wrigley wrote in a statement. "Keen self-awareness, authenticity and confidence are the driving forces behind Purple's charm and quirky nature."
While M&Ms first popped onto the scene in 1941, the color characters now owned by the privately-held Mars Wrigley first appeared in 1954. Initially, the anthropomorphized candies only included Red and Yellow but eventually expanded to include the others — Brown was the last color to join the "M&M Crew" in 2012.
Purple balances out Green and Brown as another visibly female character and makes her official "début" with a YouTube video of her singing "I'm Just Gonna Be Me." The 104-second video is voiced by comedian and talk show host Amber Ruffin.
Those hoping to find purple candies in their bag of M&Ms will be left disappointed as the new character has been released only for ads and online campaigns.
A Short History of People Asking for Purple
The colors one finds in a bag of M&Ms will not change from the old six — at least, for now, as there's no ruling out that Purple will not pop up in some kind of limited-edition candy mix or set a few months from now.
The company says that it has been working on a new color for years now. Back in 2002, over 10 million people voted on which new color should join the other M&Ms. Purple won by a huge margin but, between one thing or another, the rollout was delayed by more than 20 years.
But people have been asking about why there is no purple M&M online for about as long and, according to Mars Wrigley, the time was finally right to make one.
"Purple has been in the works for a very long time, for years," Jane Hwang, global VP of M&M's, told CNN. "This was about ensuring that the entire crew, the entire cast of spokescandies, were reflecting the world that we’re living in."
