Meet the M&M's 'spokescandies' family

We have Red, the original and the often time cynical red mascot for the M&M's chocolates. Equipped with a mouth for sarcasm, Red's face appears the most frequently in relation to the other M&M's spokecandies alongside his partner, Yellow.

Yellow, the mascot of the peanut M&M's division. He appears to be slightly taller than Red. He can be characterized by his happy and gullible personality. As a result, he is often scolded by Red for his naivety and cluelessness. 

There is the cool Blue; spokescandy for the almond M&M's. The seductive Green; spokescandy for the peanut butter M&M's. Oh and don't forget the neurotic Orange; spokecandy for the crispy M&M's. (Mars Incorporated, 2012)

Up until 2012, the five spokecandies dominated in representing the M&M's as mascots for their respective divisions in the company. However, February 5th of 2012 marked the introduction of Ms. Brown, the CCO (Chief Chocolate Officer) of Mars Inc., and boy did she take center stage. As CCO, Ms. Brown is in a position of power, nonetheless looking the part; clad "in eyeglasses and platform pumps by Marc Jacobs and Judith Ripka diamond custom glove links" (Mars Incorporated, 2012). 

On the one hand, we have the physical; characters imbued with life, personalities, limbs, eyes and of course, roles adapted and designed to tailor to each and every mascot at hand. On the other hand, however, sits the material reality; they are M&M chocolate candies. The phenomenon presented before us finely illustrates the blurring of the physical / material dichotomy to which I have chosen to focus.

Even with this so called hybrid of the physical and the material; the relentless portrayal of the sexes by popular media in addition to the gender stereotypes that largely permeate the realms of the physical fails to cease and instead remains intact. 

The genders have been objectified by way of materialization. Sure the males are also subject to such treatment, but their demeanour is definitely more varied compared to their female counterparts; they exhibit a much wider array of emotions and personalities; from the sarcasm employed by Red to Yellow's gullible nature; the cool, laid back Blue to the overly neurotic Orange. Contrast to this, the only emotions and expressions available to the 'female M&M's' are that of seductiveness and allure. It is as if they serve the purpose of being merely eye candy (no pun intended) for the consumers of the male dominated media. 

In terms of appearance, the males share the somewhat uniform look of plainness; thick brows, half closed eyes (with the exception of Orange as he is neurotic), clay-like arms and legs met with white work gloves and what seems to be shoes. The females, on the other hand, are given much more detail in this regard; thin and intricate brows, thick lashes, delicate lips, thin limbs and attention paid to the gloves and shoes (pumps in Ms. Brown's case, from Marc Jacobs at that). Is this the result of a positive focus on the female sex by the media? Far from it. The media is simply tailoring to the 'equally as male' dominated consumers. I say this as Ms. Brown was introduced on February 5th of 2012 at Superbowl XLVI. Football takes place at a Superbowl. Football is a largely male dominated sport. Simple deduction would suggest that Mars Inc. introduced Ms. Brown as to elicit the attention of a male audience in hopes of increasing sales. 

Before signing off, I would like to focus a little on Ms. Brown. Not only is she given the most attention of the spokecandies with the aid of such designer brands as Marc Jacobs (what does this say about female portrayal of the media?) and accessories such as spectacles to complete her look; we forget the fact that she is the CCO of Mars. Inc., meaning that she is in a position of power for having managed such a successful business. But is she really in a position of power? Or was she simply placed under such a label as consequence of the stereotype of the 'seductive office lady / librarian'? I am prone to believing the latter; after all, what better way to tap into the attention and awareness of a largely male dominated audience at an adrenaline pumped event (Superbowl) than with a stereotypical 'strict on the outside naughty on the inside' lady of the profession?



"M&M's spokecandies." M&M's Home. Mars Incorporated, 05 02 2012. Web. 3 Mar 2012. <http://www.mms.com/us/>.


Martin Wonnacota. M&Ms Spokecandies. 2012. Photograph. WikipediaWeb. 3 Mar 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/M&M_mascots.png>.


Martin Wonnacota. Ms. Brown. 2012. Photograph. M&MsWeb. 3 Mar 2012. <http://www.mms.com/us/MsBrown/assets/images/mms_brown_gallery_print_full.jpg>.