(WJW) – The beloved M&M’s “spokescandies” are back after briefly being replaced by Saturday Night Live star Maya Rudolph.
The candy brand confirmed on its website that the multi-colored candy cast is back! The news came after Rudolph’s Super Bowl commercial spot that featured a desperate Red M&M, who was hinting at some behind-the-scenes drama.
“I can’t believe we were actually put on ‘pause,'” Red says during the commercial.
In January, the candy brand announced Rudolph as the new face of M&M’s.
“America, let’s talk. 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. But now we get it — even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing. Which was the last thing M&M’s wanted since we’re all about bringing people together,” the candy brand said in January. “Therefore, we have decided to take an indefinite pause from the spokescandies. In their place, we are proud to introduce a spokesperson America can agree on: the beloved Maya Rudolph. We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong.”
In January, M&M’s debuted an all-female M&M’s package that was designed to “celebrate women everywhere who are flipping the status quo.”
The changes drew backlash and sparked debate online as well as from FOX News political commentator Tucker Carlson.
“The green M&M got her boots back, but apparently is now a lesbian, maybe? And there’s also a plus-sized, obese purple M&M, so we’re gonna cover that, of course,” he said on FOX News. “Because that’s what we do.”
But in Rudolph’s first commercial, M&M’s “Chief of Fun” renamed the candy “Ma&Ya’s” after her name and put her face on each shell in place of the traditional “M,” strongly hinting that the arrangement was a pre-Super Bowl gag.
“At M&M’s, we believe in the power of fun to bring people together,” the company said on its website.
The company said that in the past year, the conversations about its spokescandies reached new heights, and at times, got “lively.”
“We wanted to positively redirect the passion of that conversation to bring the fun back into it, and help people laugh and move on together with our latest Super Bowl campaign. Now, we can get on with what we are here to do: create a world where everyone feels they belong,” THe company said in a statement. “Since we kicked off our global purpose we’ve contributed millions to efforts and causes that are using the power of fun to bring us all closer together, laying the groundwork for lasting change.”
