M&M's Just Announced A Big Change For Its Mascots

There are a number of reasons people might like M&M's. As a candy, they're pretty moreish, and as mascots they are skilled at getting people to crack a smile. And while those mascots may have endeared themselves to fans, M&M's parent company Mars appears to have decided it was time to refresh the look and feel of the team to keep them in step with the times. Global vp of M&M's Jane Hwang tells AdWeek that the company "took a deep look at our characters, both inside and out, and have evolved their looks, personalities and backstories to be more representative of the dynamic and progressive world we live in."

The reset won't necessarily mean radical shifts to the candy personalities many are familiar with. Red is meant to be less of a bully; Orange is meant to have "officially acknowledged his anxiety and learned to 'embrace his true self, worries and all,'" according to Today. The characters don't look like they have been revised much, the biggest physical changes to the candy characters are the ones made to Brown — whose glasses have been updated and her heels, swapped from sky-high stilettos to low and chunky; and to Green — who appears to have ditched her go-go boots for "cool, laid-back sneakers to reflect her effortless confidence." Green's change was particularly noticeable, since M&M's maker Mars was earlier criticized for objectifying the candy when the ads were first rolled out in 1997 (via The Wall Street Journal). 

A new look and feel for the candy isn't the only thing Mars has planned for M&Ms in 2022. It's also changing the tone of its brand campaign, so that Green and Brown will be seen as being more friendly toward each other (via Today). Both Brown and Green have ditched their prefixes (no more "Ms." — "Brown" and "Green" will do), so, as AdWeek puts it, the conversation around the candies are about "their unique personalities rather than their gender." The M&Ms promotional site features "interviews" with the candies, where they "tell all" and use the opportunity to explain themselves.

While the internet is buzzing over the reasons why M&M's parent company Mars chose to reimagine the candies' personalities in the way that it did (via Twitter), it wouldn't have been the first time Mars decided to shake things up a bit with the brand. Since the characters were introduced in 1954, AdWeek says they've been through "several iterations." And to those who think that if something isn't broken, it shouldn't be fixed, marketing experts are behind Mars' move to keep the candy in touch with the times. "Every brand has to continuously reinvent itself to remain relevant," marketing company Metaforce co-founder David Camp told CNN.