M&Ms Replaces ‘Spokescandies’ with Maya Rudolph Amid Criticism

On Monday, M&Ms announced that they will be retiring the “spokescandies” after the changes made to the characters sparked nationwide criticism.

“In the last year, we’ve made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice. And we definitely didn’t think it would break the internet,” M&Ms announced in a statement. “But now we get it – even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing. Which was the last thing M&Ms wanted since we’re all about bringing people together.”

Last year, M&Ms made some changes to the “spokescandies” outfits to make them more relatable to younger customers. The change to Green’s shoes from go-go boots to sneakers, referenced in M&Ms’ Monday announcement, seems subtle but managed to spark outrage across social media. According to CNN, a petition circulated to “keep the green M&M sexy” and received 20,000 signatures.

The addition of the purple M&M in September also triggered another round of criticism. The new female character was added to promote inclusivity and was part of the limited-edition pack of female-only M&Ms in honor of International Women’s Day.

Martha MacCallum, Fox News Anchor, commented, “If this is what you need for validation, an M&M that is the color that you think is associated with feminism, then I’m worried about you.” She added, “I think that makes China say, ‘Oh, good, keep focusing on that. Keep focusing on giving people their own color M&M’S while we take over all of the mineral deposits in the entire world.’”

M&Ms announced that Maya Rudolph would be replacing the “spokescandies” and start representing the company.

Rudolph told Today that she is excited to be working with the brand. “I am a lifelong lover of the candy and I feel like it’s such an honor to be asked to be part of such a legendary brand’s campaign,” she said. “I think little Maya would be thrilled to get to work with M&M’s.”