The good folks over at Mars, Incorporated announced a rebrand of the iconic M&M’s characters and if it didn’t come with a fully detailed explanation in the campaign, you’d likely never notice.
On Thursday, the redesign for the “more dynamic, progressive world” intended to focus on creating a sense of belonging and community, by spotlighting the character’s “personalities, rather than their gender” ceased any doubt in my mind that a bunch of out of touch Boomers were the directors at the company.
The only notable changes are with Orange, Ms. Brown, and Green. Orange still struggles with anxiety, however, he is more accepting of his mental health as he plans to, “embrace his true self, worries and all.” Also, his shoes are finally tied, which might have been the first step to assuaging his anxiety.
Both Green and Ms. Brown’s shoe games changed too. Now, while much of the uproar online surrounds Green’s muffled sex appeal as she traded in her white go-go boots for a pair of sneakers—and let’s be honest, the boots were not giving vintage, like she thought—the real tragedy here, is Ms. Brown. The M&M’s chief chocolate officer for the past 70 years, swapped out her stilettos for kitten heels.
Who was minding Ms. Brown’s business? An esteemed bossed up baddie such as herself would never elect to wear heels she couldn’t walk in, in the first place. The shoe change was described by Mars as “lowered to a professional heel height.” This doesn’t feel like feminism, at all.
If Black don’t crack (yes, Ms. Brown is Black. She is voiced by Vanessa Williams) and M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand, then someone from Mars needs to explain why Ms. Brown’s shell looks like that? Maybe it is the matronly feel of the kitten heels, but she looks visibly older than the other M&Ms. Sure Ms. Brown is the same age as Green and Yellow and has maintained her position as a flagship flavor inside the bag since 1941, but of all the M&Ms, her melanated shell should look the best.
While Green dropped the prefix from her name, thankfully, Ms. Brown will continue to be addressed as Ms. because doesn’t play like that and she isn’t one of the world’s little friends.