M&M’s inclusivity campaign distracts from their current lawsuit.
As of Jan. 20, 2022, M&M’s had a slight change to their classic look. These changes were subtle, such as the colors being a tad more vibrant than before, but what most people are in an uproar about is the green M&M changing her white boots to a pair of sneakers. Now, the brown M&M got to keep her little heel, although it is now a tad shorter but not super noticeable, while the others got laces on their shoes.
The brand did this in order to seem “more inclusive.” They are going to change some aspects of the characters’ personalities, too. The orange M&M is going to embrace his anxiety and the red M&M is going to be nice instead of a bully. However, no one is focusing on that. They want the green M&M’s go-go boots back.
This new campaign appears to be a distraction from the lawsuit going on against the Mars company due to claims of child slavery on the cocoa plantations they use as their source. Unfortunately, all that I have seen on my social media and the news is about the green M&M’s boots. It is not just Mars getting sued for child slavery, however. Nestlé and Hershey are also in a lawsuit for the same reasons, but again no one seems to care because no one is discussing it.
It is not inherently a bad thing that society wants their chocolate candies to be more inclusive. However, if they wanted to seem more inclusive then they could have just made all of them have sneakers. I do not understand how shoes make a difference in inclusivity, but if that is what it takes to seem that way then do it to them all. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the green M&M should have her classic boots. The boots should come back because that is part of the character they have made the green M&M be, a femme fatale personality has been given to a literal piece of chocolate, and putting sneakers in her diminishes that persona the creators have presented.
The brown M&M had a very minimal change — probably because the company was so focused on the fact that they are dealing with a lawsuit about child slavery to care. Perhaps the company knew that people would only throw a hissy fit if the green one changed, and so used the campaign to their benefit as a way to hide the fact that they have child slavery lawsuits against them. It is possible that they thought giving the people something to be angry about would make them overlook the human rights abuse. It is disappointing to think that beloved candy brands such as M&M’s would be complacent with immoral practices and then cover up their actions, but it would not be the most shocking thing anyone has ever heard.
