Chocolate maker wants the brand “be more representative of today’s society”

Mars announced on Thursday an overhaul of the visual identity of its iconic M&M’s candy brand, including slight adjustments to the logo and characters – the six different colored “lentils.” It said they have gotten a modern makeover for a “more dynamic, progressive world.”

According to Mars, the redesign is focused on creating a sense of belonging and community, as well as spotlighting the characters’ “personalities, rather than their gender.” Mars said it has opted to provide an added emphasis on the ampersand in its logo to “demonstrate how the brand aims to bring people together.”

The company said it has made some slight changes, namely to the shoes the characters wear. Blue, Brown, and Orange have kept their footwear since they happen to be the company’s latest iterations. Green has been changed from wearing high-heeled boots to a pair of low sneakers, while Red and Yellow have had their shoes altered to more modern versions.

The changes will carry over into the brand’s marketing efforts, Mars said, as M&M’s marketing executives have also evolved the characters’ look, personalities, and backstories in an attempt to “be more representative of today’s society.” 

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“The new M&M’s brand purpose – and the sense of belonging it intends to create – will be reflected across advertising platforms, including but not limited to the graphics, fonts and language we use, the actors, directors and creatives we cast and the scenes we choose to highlight,” the company’s spokesperson said. 

The changes will be rolled out online this week and incorporated into the packaging and other marketing materials this year.

M&M’s were first sold in 1941, and the characters arrived on the scene in 1954. Old M&M’s commercials starred Red and Yellow, representing regular and peanut M&Ms. In the late 1990s, new characters were added to the mix. Brown, the most recent addition, joined in 2012. Each of the six characters has their own personality: Red is the sarcastic one, Yellow the simple one, Blue the cool one, Green the sexy one, Orange the neurotic one, and Brown the intelligent one.

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