M&M’S to rebrand cartoon mascots in an effort to be more 'inclusive'

On Thursday, the Mars candy company announced that it will work to make the animated M&M'S mascots "more inclusive."

The company debuted its "M&M's For All Funkind" initiative with a colorful and upbeat advertisement showing off the mascot's new looks and emphasized the importance of togetherness.

M&M'S: For All Funkindwww.youtube.com

In addition to the promotional video, the candy conglomerate published a corporate press release detailing what it hoped to achieve through this initiative.

Pledging to act in a socially conscientious way, the company stated, "M&M'S has been around for more than 80 years and this year the brand continues to evolve to reflect the more dynamic, progressive world that we live in."

It continued by vowing to use "the power of fun" to increase "the sense of belonging for 10 million people around the world by 2025."

The M&M'S official website provides readers with an in-depth glance into the lives and personalities of the rebooted mascots. Each anthropomorphized candy disc's profile displays a clever catchphrase alongside some fun facts about them. The red M&M — better known as Red —proclaims, "I instinctively know I have great instincts" and tells whoever is reading his profile that his worst quality is his perfectionism.

The green M&M — aptly named Green — who up to this point was the brand's go-to for sex appeal, has the most noticeable rebranding of the mascots. She will no longer be seen sporting her iconic go-go boots, opting for a more sensible pair of white sneakers.

Green's profile tells us that her best quality is "being a hypewoman" for her fellow candies and that she believes "we all win when we see more women in leading roles."

The socially conscious candy producers will also no longer attach gender to the mascots. Jane Hwang, the global vice president for M&M’S, said that the company would stop attaching gender-specific prefixes to the names of each character. Instead of addressing the yellow peanut M&M mascot formally as "Mr. Yellow," he is now simply "Yellow."

Towards the end of Mars' press release, the company states that this new initiative is just one of many that the company is pursuing to "deliver on a world where society is inclusive." Mars also used the press release to promote its "Full Potential Platform," which emphasizes the company's efforts to "advance gender equality in our workplaces, in the marketplace and in communities where we source raw materials."

Mars is one of many multinational food conglomerates introducing — or increasing — nonprofit "social awareness" initiatives into their organizations.