When M&M's announced on Jan. 23 that it was taking an indefinite pause from using its candies to promote themselves, it unveiled actress and "Saturday Night Live" alum Maya Rudolph as its new spokesperson.
This appeared to be a response to some comments in right-wing media that the M&M's characters had some characteristics that were offensive. In part, the controversy surrounded reaction to two of its female characters that were perceived to have been sexualized.
"America, let's talk," said the statement, posted on Twitter. "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," the statement continued. "Which was the last thing M&M's wanted since we're all about bringing people together."
The Choice of Maya Rudolph
Choosing Rudolph to be the new spokesperson appears to be a move designed to troll conservatives. In the new video released on Twitter, she announces a proposed name change for the small candies that she says is a play on her name: Ma&Ya's.
The reaction on social media was swift.
"You have to understand why this is a Super Bowl stunt guys. Mars said they’d start the campaign a month before the Super Bowl and it’s a month before the big game," writes @HORPTyler on Twitter. "So it’s not a surprise they’re making Maya’s character have it be all about her so the spokescandies can return."
"I still think it’s sad that Mars’ marketing team was forced to take action bc all the little self-proclaimed 'alpha-males' decided a candy marketing campaign threatened their fragile masculinity and made this into a thing," comments @mntechgirl.
