Good news: the unsexy green M&M is back! On Monday, M&M parent company Mars Wrigley announced that it would retire its «spokesperson» mascots from M&M indefinitely and replace them with actor Maya Rudolph. However, the company told The New York Times on Friday that the controversial move was just a publicity stunt and that the spokespersons would indeed return at the next Super Bowl.
«Rest assured, the characters are our official long-term spokespersons,» Mars Wrigley said in a statement to The New York Times. The mascots are on hiatus at this time, but the M&M’s Super Bowl commercial will resolve the situation and bring the spokespeople back, a company representative said.
The twisted story began about a year ago, when Mars Wrigley rebranded mascot candy to be more inclusive and reflect more modern sensibilities. For example, the green M&M was changed so that she had shorter legs and stopped wearing high heels. The redesign drew backlash from far-right pundits like Tucker Carlson, who criticized the changes as «woke».
While no recent changes have been announced, Carlson has brought up spokespersons again in recent weeks. Then Monday, Mars Wrigley made his announcement on the «indefinite hiatus» from spokespersons. The confusing decision referred to the ‘polarizing’ nature of the green M&M’s shoes, so it seemed intended to temper backlash from the right. However, the company also announced last month that it would have a Super Bowl-related M&M’s ad campaign. Now we know that was all just a giant troll.