(New York) The confectionery manufacturer M&M’S has stopped using the famous figures reminiscent of the shape of its chocolates, which has been criticized by a section of the American conservative right, who consider them politicized.
Posted at 2:22pm
The affair began in September with the introduction of a new member of the Spokescandies family named Purple.
This was the third female character in the strip, after Green (green) and Brown (brown), created “to represent acceptance and inclusion”, according to M&M’S.
Purple specifically symbolizes support for the LGBTQ community and expression of homosexuality.
The arrival of Purple sparked criticism, with netizens blaming M&M’s parent company Mars Wrigley for politicizing chocolates.
According to her, the M&M’S characters have “woken up,” a word denoting activism against all forms of discrimination and exclusion aimed at one or more minorities.
The controversy revived in early January with the marketing of a limited edition special pack containing only the three colors of the female characters, namely green, brown and purple.
“M&M’s ‘woke’ are back,” protested shortly after the announcement Tucker Carlson, one of Fox News’ star presenters, who is known for the very conservative positions of some of his stars.
He said in a mocking tone that Green was “possibly lesbian” and Purple was “obese”, referring to its oval rather than round shape, similar to that of M&Ms with a peanut.
Back in January 2022, Tucker Carlson had seized on the issue to accuse M&M’S of replacing Green’s white boots with sneakers, making them “less sexy.”
Referring to these changes, M&M’S said in a post on Twitter on Monday that they are not expected to “turn the internet upside down”.
“But now we’ve found,” added the pastry chef, “that even candy shoes can trigger polarization. »
“However, that was the last thing we wanted because our goal is to bring people together,” said M&M’S.
“Because of this, we have decided to pause the characters indefinitely,” the company announced.
The animated creatures will be replaced in the new ad campaigns by actress and comedian Maya Rudolph.