Welcoming back to Purple M&M to the Family

By Maya Taylor-Prince ‘24
M&Ms manufacturer Mars Inc. decided to bring back the purple-dyed M&M – which in 1995 lost a popular vote to Blue – yet the controversy that followed was evident and surprising to the company. 

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“I personally love the color purple and there would be nothing more exciting to me than opening a crisp fresh bag of M&Ms and pulling out a purple,” said M&M enthusiast Eliana Finkel. The new female “delegate” for the candy, whose name is Purple, was designed to represent “acceptance and inclusivity,” according to Mars. 
Purple’s reintroduction was also part of an update for all the candies to be more modern and better represent real people in our culture: Green, for example, had her high-heeled boots replaced with comfortable sneakers, Brown got lower, more sensible pumps and Orange is talking about his anxiety. 
“I love that diversity that all M&Ms show. I had never noticed that creativity, yet the representation I am dying for is a purple M&M,” said junior Zach Siegel.
While the new addition of Purple was celebrated by some who were excited to see the brand become more inclusive, others were not so happy. Many conservative commentators criticized Mars for introducing “woke candies” and they encouraged their viewers to disagree with the new brand being more inclusive.
Blue-haired progressive junior Avital Ely, however, could not be more “excited with the introduction of a Purple M&M. The more inclusion and the more purple the better,” she said.
There was so much controversy that Mars decided in January 2023 to suspend the candy mascots and for the Superbowl, created an ad starring actress Maya Rudolph instead. 
“WE WANT PURPLE. STAY WOKE,” said Ely, fuming.
Soon after Super Bowl Sunday however, the company’s leaders decided they weren’t going to let their chocolates be bullied anymore. They reintroduced them in a funny commercial in which the chocolates held a press conference announcing their return. 
“I can’t believe we were put on pause,” said Red. 
“I’m glad to be back, because this is what I was made for. I mean, as a walking, talking candy, my options are pretty limited,” Purple said. 
The slogan at the top of the screen read: “They’re back for good.” 
Personally, I applaud the company’s decision to stick to their principles and their inclusive message, even though it might bother some people. There are so many more terrible things in the world to be upset about—war, poverty, famine, global warming, to name just a few—I don’t really get why anyone would be spending their time talking about and criticizing chocolate.