Health Concerns - Red Candies

Red candies were eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and were replaced with orange-colored candies. This was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers. Red candies were reintroduced ten years later, but they also kept the orange colored M&M's.


References: Aubrey, A. (n.d.). Moms Petition Mars To Remove Artificial Dyes From M&M's. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

Marketing of M&M's

Over the years, imaginative marketing has helped build and expand the M&M's brand. Computer-animated graphics, personification of the candies as characters with cartoon-like storytelling, and clever merchandising techniques including the introduction of new flavors, colors and customizable merchandise have helped to increase the brand's recognition as a candy icon.

 Watch M&M's Cupboard Commercial - Get in the Bowl

M&M's Varieties

M&M's varieties have included the following fillings: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, crisped rice, mint chocolate, peanuts, almonds, orange chocolate, coconut, pretzel, wild cherry, cinnamon, raspberry, birthday cake, pumpkin spice, candy corn, cherry cordial, strawberried peanut butter, peppermint, gingerbread, peanut butter, red velvet, carrot cake, dark chocolate peanut, pineapple and vanilla shake.

References: The Best Kinds of M&Ms. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2014 from: http://www.ranker.com/list/best-m-and-m-varieties/ranker-food

M&M's Characters

Concurrent with the Blue M&M campaign, M&M's introduced computer animated "spokescandies" in their television commercials. These include the team of the cynical and sardonic Red (originally voiced by Jon Lovitz) who is the mascot for milk chocolate M&M's, and the happy and gullible Yellow (originally John Goodman), who is the mascot for peanut M&M's (he was originally known as "Peanut" when first introduced). Other mascots include the "cool one", Blue (Phil Hartmann, thereafter Robb Pruitt) who is the mascot for almond M&M's; the seductive Green (Cree Summer), who is the mascot for dark chocolate M&M's; and the slightly neurotic Orange (Eric Kirchberger) representing crispy M&M's (Pretzel M&M's in the US when Pretzel M&M's were released). There is also a non-M&M spokescandy for the pretzel M&M's named Pretzel Guy. He is a bespectacled and slightly nerdy pretzel who is with Orange in most of the Pretzels M&M's commercials, "supporting" him and offering helpful advice. Other mascots that were introduced, but no longer used, are Almond, the original green guy, Orange, a female peanut character, and the Swarmees for M&M's Minis candies, which are portrayed as destructive yet crafty troubelmakers who Red and Yellow are always trying to contain, but comically fail

Female M&M's mascots were introduced in 1995. Green was the milk chocolate mascot and Orange was the peanut. Unfortunately, marketing discontinued Orange when they introduced the then new Blue mascot. Green was the only female M&M's mascot from her introduction in 1995 until 2012, when M&M's unveiled a new additional spokescandy, the businesslike Ms. Brown (Vanessa Williams), the "Chief Chocolate Officer." She made her debut in a Super Bowl XLVI advertisement, where Red mistakes her for lacking a shell coating because of her brown color.

Get to know M&M's characters here! 


References: Characters. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2014 from: http://mmscandy.wordpress.com/about/

How did it start?

Forrest Mars, Sr., son of the founder of the Mars Company Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets called Smarties, with a hard shell of tempered chocolate surrounding the inside, preventing the candies from melting. Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941.


Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey. When the company was originally founded it was M&M Limited. The two "Ms" represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate's president William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product. The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.



The demand for the candies during World War II caused an increase in production and its factory moved to bigger quarters at 200 North 12th Street in Newark, New Jersey, where it remained until 1958 when it moved to a bigger factory at Hackettstown, New Jersey. During the war, the candies were exclusively sold to the military.



In 1950, a black "M" was imprinted on the candies giving them a unique trademark. It was changed to white in 1954.
Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954, but first appeared only in the color tan. They were debuted at the same time as the tagline "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." In 1960, M&M's added the yellow, red, and green colors.


References: Bellis, M. (n.d.). History and Invention of M&Ms Candies. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

M&M's Around The World

M&M's are "colorful button-shaped candies" produced by Mars, Incorporated. The candy shell, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case on one side, surrounds a filling which varies depending on the variety of M&M's. The original candy had a milk chocolate filling which, upon introducing other varieties, was branded as the "plain" variety. "Peanut" M&M's, which feature a peanut coated in milk chocolate and, finally, a candy shell, were the first variety introduced and remain a regular variety. Numerous other varieties have been introduced, some of which are regular widespread varieties (such as "peanut butter", "pretzel" and "dark chocolate"), while others are limited in duration or geographic availability.
M&M's originated in the United States in 1941, and are now sold in as many as 100 countries. They are produced in different colors, some of which have changed over the years. The candy-coated chocolate concept was inspired by a method used to allow soldiers to carry chocolate without having it melt. The company's longest-lasting slogan reflects this: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."