Recently on September 27th, the brand: M and M’s released a new video, unveiling their latest addition to the group. The new character, the purple peanut m&m, was shown to have a slightly more modern look. Prior to the release of their new m&m, the Mars company also delivered the updated styles of the six original characters. 

The new character was first introduced in a video called “I’m just gonna be me,” according to CNN. The commercial shows how her character is spunky, confident, energetic, and a little awkward. Research also shows how her personality could correspond to her color since purple represents power, confidence, and nobility. 

However, the purple M&M will not be able to be purchased daily at a typical store but may be available on the m&m website. This is because, in the mid ‘90s,the company asked the public to vote on purple to be added for a limited time, the vote resulted in a “yes” from customers. But when the Mars company held a vote again for purple to be added as a permanent candy, the vote fell short; some people even have conspiracy theories of the vote being rigged, according to CNN. 

The company also recently released a statement on how they were specifically focusing on the character of the purple m&m rather than the actual consumable candy. “But the brand is really focusing on the characters, rather than the actual edible candies,” stated Jane Hwang, Global Vice President of M&M’S.

According to Delish, the Mars company wrote, “The refreshed M&M’s brand will include…more nuanced personalities to underscore the importance of self-expression and the power of community through storytelling.” Along with the new character, the brand also released the more updated styles of the original group from 2012: red, yellow, orange, blue, green and brown. One subtle change was the color of the character’s skin correlating with their candy color instead of the original tan color as their skin tone. Another change that caused controversy among viewers was the changing of the character’s shoes. Minor changes to the shoes included: orange finally getting shoes with laces, brown getting lower heels, and green replacing her gogo boots for sneakers. The new purple m and m also was shown with lace-up sneaker boots.

As seen on the company website, the green m&m, formally known as Ms. Green, had her go-go boots replaced with sneakers. This change caused relatable outrage among fans, even leading to signings of a petition “Keep Green Sexy” since some customers favored her heeled boots and more feminine apparel. As stated in the Washington Post Magazine, “The M&M’s changes aren’t progressive. Give Green her boots back.”

While some favored Green’s more feminine appeal, others preferred this new modern touch. Some viewers have commented on how they feel that the 81-year-old brand is becoming more inclusive and accurately portraying society.