Say Hello to Purple M&M, the Candy Brand's First New Character in a Decade (2024)

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Say Hello to Purple M&M, the Candy Brand's First New Character in a Decade? ›

NEWARK, NJ (September 28, 2022) – For the first time in a decade, M&M'S®, proudly part of Mars

Now, M&M'S is making another, bigger change — this time, it's adding a brand new character to the mix. Meet Purple: She's peanut, she sings, and she doesn't wear high heels (she sports lace-up boots). The purple peanut M&M is the first new character in 10 years, according to the brand.

Purple is the latest M&M's spokescandy that debuted on September 28th, 2022. She will feature on the M&M'S Caramel Cold brew packaging.

The new purple "spokescandy" is a peanut M&M designed to represent acceptance and inclusivity, the brand's parent company Mars said in a press release. Purple joins the company's other characters, Red, Yellow, Green, Brown, Orange and Blue, who recently got updated looks and new personalities earlier this year.

M&M's characters. Early black-and-white adverts for the candy in 1954 featured two talking, anthropomorphic M&M characters—one plain and one peanut—diving into a swimming pool full of chocolate.

M&M's, the ubiquitous candy brand owned by Mars Wrigley, announced on Monday that it would take “an indefinite pause” from its “spokescandies,” deciding that the cartoon characters with arms, legs and minimal facial features were simply too divisive for a polarized America to take.

Aptly named "Purple," the new female character is coming aboard to help the company "represent acceptance and inclusivity," according to a news release.

The rarest M&M color is generally considered to be brown. In the past, brown M&M's were discontinued for a period of time but were reintroduced in 1987 due to popular demand.

Conservatives immediately suggested that the new purple candy must be transgender, and the candies were labeled “woke.” The last straw seemed to come in December when the candy introduced all-female packaging to promote International Women's Day.

Green. Green joined the M&M'S® pack in 1997 as the first and only female spokescandy until the addition of Ms. Brown in 2012.

Is the brown M&M female or male? ›

Brown, the other female character, has also slipped into something a little more comfy — block heels, instead of her signature stiletto. She and the green M&M will also have a more friendly relationship than they've previously had, "together throwing shine and not shade."

“I can't believe we were actually put on pause,” the red M&M says in the 15-second spot while standing atop a press conference table with his candy-coated colleagues, including yellow, green and the newest purple M&M voiced by Amber Ruffin.

Simmons. Is the voice of the yellow peanut M&M on the commercials since the late 1990s, replacing John Goodman after the original 1995 commercials. In 2000, a video game was produced, M&M's: The Lost Formulas (2000), in which he portrayed Yellow Peanut.

When M&M's first hit the market in 1941, the original colors were red, yellow, green, brown, and, guess what? PURPLE. This variety of coated candies was sent around the world during World War II in its original cardboard tube packaging.

Tan M&Ms officially made their exit in 1995, when Mars, Inc. allegedly decided that it was unnecessary to have two shades of brown M&Ms. The company left the choosing of a new, replacement color up to the public.

In exchange for chocolate, Hershey would receive 20 percent stake in M&M Limited (which was named after Mars & Murrie). Mars eventually bought out Murrie's interest, but by then the name had already stuck. Hershey's Kisses and M&Ms fight for the top spot as America's top-selling candy.

In 1995, the tan M&M's succumbed to the same fate that the purple M&M's did in 1949, and were replaced with blue M&M's, as reported by The Associated Press. This came after two months of voting by the American public, who voted in favor of a new color instead of the comeback of the purple.

NEWARK, NJ (September 28, 2022) – For the first time in a decade, M&M'S®, proudly part of Mars, is expanding its iconic crew with the introduction of a new character and spokescandy – meet Purple. Designed to represent acceptance and inclusivity, our newest member is known for her earnest self-expression.

The rarest M&M color is generally considered to be brown. In the past, brown M&M's were discontinued for a period of time but were reintroduced in 1987 due to popular demand.

Amber Ruffin, host of The Amber Ruffin Show on Peaco*ck and the purple M&M, plays our game called "Roughin' It" Three questions about camping.