illustration from Daily Mail Online
via your classmate Cady
Mars Inc, the parent company for the candy-coated chocolate known as M&Ms, has announced a refresh for the characters previously featured in many of the brand’s marketing communications.
The focus on the character makeover was to promote inclusivity, given that two of the M&M’s seem to represent ‘sexy’ females, given their long eyelashes and high-heeled shoes. In the announcement, Mars indicated that a change is coming for all characters, with an objective of having “more nuanced personalities to underscore the importance of self-expression and power of community through storytelling” (Mars Inc., 2022).
Some of the changes to the characters include giving the M&Ms arms and legs that match their shell colour (rather than a single flesh-tone), and a change to the attire of the feminine brown and green M&Ms. These have sparked a debate among some twitter users, with many expressing their strong preference for the female M&M characters to remain as is.
Specifically, many memes on social media began circulating regarding the green M&M, who’s iconic knee-high boots will be replaced with plain white sneakers. These included popular tweets with thousands of likes, such as “why did they reverse yassify the green m&m” (Twitter @mattxiv), and “they told green m&m she couldn’t go to euphoria high school anymore” (Twitter @alex_abads), a reference to a popular Netflix series whose storyline often includes the sexual activities of its teen characters. Additionally, a petition on change.org has accumulated over 19,000 signatures to keep the green m&m sexy (https://www.change.org/p/keep-the-green-m-m-sexy).
This story is a very interesting example of how companies adapt to try and stay relevant with current customers. Currently, brands are becoming increasingly consciousness of issues of inclusivity, and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of related trends, such as body-positivity and gender inclusion (see link below with Mars’ statement on inclusivity). This example indicates that Mars is trying to adopt these views and relate to its customers through M&Ms’ characters.
https://www.mars.com/news-and-stories/press-releases/mms-announces-global-commitment-inclusivity
https://www.mms.com/en-us/experience-mms/characters?color=green
campaignforrealbranding 
Hi Cady,
Very interesting write up about the DEI initiatives within M&M’s branding! While reading through your post, I found myself reflecting upon some of the concepts that we have learnt in the first half of BU470. For example, we learnt about consumer mindsets, with a specific focus on the Gen Z mindset regarding authenticity and transparency. Evidently, M&M’s rebranding Is geared towards the mindset of Gen Z consumers as their brand mascots now involve elements such as body positivity and gender inclusion just like you mentioned. Many other brands are taking the same path as Mars Inc’s M&M as well; for instance, Abercrombie and Fitch have recently gone through a rebrand that revolves around diversity, inclusion and authenticity as well. They are now utilizing models of all body types and ethnicities, while offering much more inclusive sizes within their apparel as well.
Another notable concept that came to mind when reading your post is Carl Jung’s 12 brand archetypes. More specifically, I found myself associating the brand M&M with the “Jester” archetype. The “Jester” brand archetype entails characteristics such as happiness, positivity, and playfulness. Evidently, this is reflected upon M&M’s DEI based brand refresh and rambunctious brand elements.
Hi Cady, thanks for sharing this! I never noticed these subtle changes in the M&M characters! While reading your post, this reminds me a lot of Disney’s shift to being more inclusive and increase diversity in their cast. Many fans have complained about Disney’s “wokeness” as they close down and change rides, such as the Jungle Cruise ride and Splash Mountain. The former was changed because of the “negative depictions of Natives”, while the latter was changed because it was based on the Song of the South. In particular, what came to mind was the Little Mermaid controversy where Disney cast a Halle Bailey, a Black actress to play as Arial. Although many people applauded this move, claiming it was a great choice, others found it pandering. One comment on Twitter said that, “If everyone wants princesses from different ethnicities and colors etc, make new tales.” Another Twitter user reminded people that The Little Mermaid was written by a Danish author, and should preserve the way in which Arial was portrayed. One person wrote “It was a HUGE issue that the lion king had to have an African cast right? Well it’s a HUGE issue that Ariel isn’t an accurate ginger.”
In this way Disney, while trying to be more progressive, has received a mixture of backlash and support. It is unclear whether these methods are effective in changing people’s perception of Disney as being more progressive, or simply pandering to the public.
Cady, I hope this comment finds you well. I really enjoy reading this post as I have no idea that this is what M&M did to stay relevant. I laughed a lot when I read the line regarding how many consumers had comments how they preferred the green M&M being kept “yassified” with its high-heeled boots. As a brand manager, I personally would have never thought this could be a root cause for a whole discussion or even a petition with 19,000 signatures as you mentioned in your post. Nevertheless, I still admit that this is a great move from M&M to stay relevant within the society. I assume that the initial purpose for this rebrand its M&M is to show its consumers that the organization is being woke and inclusive. However, it turned out the consumers, instead, focused on different things from this rebranding!