M&M's new all 'female' package sparks outrage - CNN

New York CNN  — 

M&M’S is making a connection with its latest candy pack, which features an all-female acceptable of characters — including Purple, its newest addition. The enactment the institution erstwhile again knee-deep into civilization wars controversy.

Candy shaper Mars announced that the constricted variation all-female battalion volition see lone Purple, Brown and Green — the candy’s trio of pistillate characters, who are upside-down connected the bundle — to “celebrate women everyplace who are flipping the presumption quo.” The packs are presently connected sale.

Purple, the “spokescandy” announced past year (and the archetypal caller M&M’S quality successful a decade), is simply a purple peanut M&M. According to the brand, she is simply a vocalist who forgoes precocious heels for lace-up boots and has a quirky, assured personality.

“The M&M’S marque is connected a ngo to usage the powerfulness of amusive to make purposeful connections, arsenic we enactment to make a satellite wherever everyone feels they belong,” said Gabrielle Wesley, main selling serviceman for Mars Wrigley North America, successful a property release.

The packs travel successful 3 options: beverage chocolate, peanut food and peanut. Mars said that a information of profits volition spell to organizations that are “uplifting and empowering women,” including She Is The Music and We Are Moving the Needle, nonprofit organizations that enactment women successful the euphony industry.

The all-female battalion rapidly sparked “culture wars” outrage connected right-wing quality networks and connected societal media. One Fox anchor said the feminist-forward battalion emboldens China.

“If this is what you request for validation, an M&M that is the colour that you deliberation is associated with feminism, past I’m disquieted astir you,” anchor Martha MacCallum said Monday. “I deliberation that makes China say, ‘Oh, good, support focusing connected that. Keep focusing connected giving radical their ain colour M&M’S portion we instrumentality implicit each of the mineral deposits successful the full world.’”

A graphic connected a amusement adjacent called the candy “woke.”

In summation to adding Purple to the lineup, M&M’S has made different changes to the 82-year-old marque successful caller months, including tweaking its logo and giving its six characters caller shoes successful an effort to modernize the candies.

Green has swapped her go-go boots for sneakers. Brown is sporting lower, much sensible heels. Red’s and Yellow’s shoes present person laces. Orange’s footwear laces are nary longer untied. And Blue’s shoes, portion small changed, lucifer what Anton Vincent, president of Mars Wrigley North America, described arsenic “a atrocious mentation of Uggs.”

However, determination was an outsized absorption to Green’s caller shoes past year.

An sentiment portion successful the Washington Post declared “The M&M’S changes aren’t progressive. Give Green her boots back.” In a provocatively headlined article, Rolling Stone described the alteration arsenic “nothing much than tectonic.” Thousands person signed a petition to “keep the greenish M&M sexy.”

Changes to beloved characters tin provoke a beardown effect connected societal media. When Lola Bunny got a caller look for the caller Space Jam movie, for example, fans were likewise outraged.

Jane Hwang, Global Vice President of M&M’S, antecedently told CNN that the absorption to Green’s alteration was “unprecedented.”

“We were incredibly overwhelmed,” she added. “Now we cognize for definite that M&M’S is simply a taste icon.”

M&M’S has nary plans to reconstruct Green’s look. “The characters … are continuously evolving to bespeak the times that we’re surviving in,” Hwang said, adding that the marque hopes consumers volition “get to cognize our characters for overmuch much than their footwear.”

–CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report.