"At Mars we believe that in the world we want tomorrow, society is inclusive. And, as one of our most iconic brands, M&M’S® is announcing a new global commitment to create a world where everyone feels they belong."
Those are fighting words.
With all the problems in the world, the kerfuffle over M&Ms animated brand spokespeople is the most trivial. Yet even its triviality makes a point. Nothing is too small to fight over. [Note that M&M is a registered trademark of Mars, Inc.] A great part of America considers itself to be losing a war of values and norms to tyrants of the educated, liberal, establishment, who relentlessly push an agenda celebrating diversity and inclusion. They feel dissed and under attack. Their leaders are fighting back. Even animated candy brand characters are a trigger.
The character change was an opportunity for Tucker Carlson at Fox. The Mars candy people probably thought it was a harmless and generally good thing to update their brand. They already had built-in opportunity. Multiple colors--rainbows--are associated with diversity. They have different colored candy but they are all the same inside, a perfect message. They may have thought that their Green M&M character sexualized and objectified women in a way that would not stand up to criticism in a #MeToo world. The character wore go-go boots. She had big eyelashes. She looked ready to go out on a Tinder date, suggesting she meet you at her place.
She had been in a commercial where she was moaning in bed. She was alone, eating M&Ms and doing who knows what else.
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| 30 seconds. Weird but funny. |
The new Green M&M wore tennis shoes, not high heels. She looks healthy and cheery, but not overtly sexy. If there is a Tinder date with her, it starts at a Starbucks, not her bedroom. Here is a screen grab from the commercial Mars created to introduce the character changes:
The Mars people were, in fact, making a statement in favor of diversity and inclusion. M&Ms are diverse in color and they share space. That has meaning. "All are welcome here" the ad says, and "everyone feels they belong." It was a political statement.
Here is the ad: M&Ms For All Funkind.
The Mars company may have thought the ad was in the tradition of the iconic Coke ad of 1971, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company. It's the real thing." Take a minute to remember the ad and the good old days when it was OK for diverse people to sing in harmony.
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| 60 seconds. Joyful. |
What was possible in 1971 is not possible now. Businesses are caught in a dilemma, pushed toward inclusion by their Gen Z employees and a corporate environment where diversity is a norm. Businesses with national footprints appear caught off guard by rural and conservative America. Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Tucker Carlson understood that America. They amplified the backlash to a changing demographic and to the increasing visibility of diverse races, genders, religions, and orientations. Disney was the most prominent target in 2022, and Ron DeSantis made the most of it. M&M is the most recent, with Tucker Carlson the spokesperson.
Carlson could pick a fight over an M&M because it was yet another norm being adjusted. The Green M&M became less feminine. Her de-gendering is another step in the changing world, like the changed "spokesperson," not "spokesman.'' Afro-American studies courses moved Black Americans from nameless "extras" in the background of American history into the foreground. They were half the population in parts of the American south, but most were as nameless as other chattel in the traditional rendering of American history. Now they are making claims to share the speaking parts. It is unsettling and illegitimate to many Americans, including to DeSantis, who majored in History at Yale. It was a norm change to fight. The Mars people changed the Green M&M from hottie to human, and gender norms are a battleground to defend. Carlson smashed a bag of M&Ms. How dare they!
Mars shelved its animated brand characters. “We’re all about bringing people together," they wrote, but those are fighting words to about half of America.
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9 comments:
Trivial? Perhaps...
But "one small step for man, one giant step for mankind" in the endeavor to elucidate on the corrosive effects of misogyny.
Why do females need to be "sexy" and live up to an impossible standard imposed by males? If a few tone deaf meatheads wake up and hear the coffee we're all better off.
Now, about those high heels...
This is a classic illustration of the bizarre lengths whackos have gone to pervert ‘woke’ into a derogatory term. Now even M&Ms and Disney are woke. So is the Pentagon, by the way. So-called conservatives simply can’t abide corporations trying to do the right thing, so they slap on a label that’s associated with race to enrage their white nationalist base over nonsense. Incredibly, the anti-woke don’t even seem to hear how stupid they sound.
Meanwhile, people are still being murdered for driving, jogging, walking, shopping and praying while black. That’s what being woke is all about.
What a riot! Seems nobody has a sense of humor anymore.
When I worked at the US Geological Survey, c. 1970s, the other hydrologists, Engineers, technicians, and I started a fun game, poking fun at all the PC shenanigans. Here’s a few of our pokes:
Can’t say men. Say people. This led to calling our headquarters Peopleo Park.
Can’t say SON , as it isn’t PC. Say child, instead. But that led to calling person PERCHILD.
I can’t remember ALL l the fun, fifty years later, unfortunately. ANY SUGGESTIONS? Free chocolate bar to anyone with ten winners!
Re M&Ms . Being an aficionado of blacks, Latinos, and BLTQGFs, I think Mars should add two new colors to their little tribe: black for blacks, purple for BLTQGFs, and also, use ‘eme” rather than M for Latinos to feel included
Caring about m and m wokeness is so over the top it hurts their criticism. It show them up for reaching for audacity when they are the ones who are being audacious. Do they really think this is something to care about? I don’t and I view myself as a wannabe woke person.
Fox Noise certainly cares about it, and it's an issue DeSantis using to become the Republican frontrunner, so to many it's obviously an issue. I don't care which bathroom people use either, but as absurd as it may seem, a lot of people do.
Settle down Malcolm... you realize this is a post about M&M's right? No need to get worked up! I'm not sure where you got the idea that you can't say "son" or "men" anymore, but I'm pretty sure you can say those words, and uh literally no one will care. Anyway maybe you just choose to avoid those dastardly M&M's from now on since they are apparently so upsetting...
Re: settle down
Apparently you missed some recent news:
When the FAA NOTAM crashed, we learned the acronym no longer means Notice To Air Men. Men has been replaced by Mission, bto be more inclusive.
And then there is the shift from latin and latina to Latinx.
Many, many examples when we think of the threat to our language. Will masculine, feminine, and neuter disappear?
Dear anonymous. I’m purple with rage. Lol.
Carlson was played. This was the company's strategy all along.
Think about it: what better way to launch a completely new ad campaign than to get a major network's celebrity spokesperson (not a journalist) to be outraged and then you quickly pivot to the new campaign.
Think about how quickly Mars turned this around.
What's next? Carlson is outraged that the McRib is in limited supply?
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