Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters are having a field day poking fun at the new look of M&Ms animated characters, calling it “deeply unappealing and totally androgynous.”
Mars Inc., the manufacturers of M&Ms, announced that its candy characters would be updated to be more inclusive and reflect its “global commitment to creating a world where everyone feels they belong and society is inclusive.” These changes include swapping the green M&M’s go-go boots for more sensible sneakers and lowering the brown M&M’s stilettos to block heels.
In addition, as part of M&M’s goal to prioritize “personalities, rather than their gender,” the orange M&M has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
Carlson, who led the charge Friday night, wasn’t having any of it.
“Bet you didn’t think M&Ms were pushing intolerance, but they were, they’ve been changed,” he said. “You’re seeing those changes on the screen. The green M&M, you will notice, is no longer wearing sexy boots. Now she’s wearing sensible sneakers. Why the change? Well according to M&Ms, ‘We all win when we see more women in leading roles.’”
Mocking the characters’ downgrade from “sexy” to “bland” and “frumpy” on account of wokeness, he continued:
“The other big change is that the brown M&M has ‘transitioned from high stilettos to lower block heels,’ also less sexy. That’s progress. M&Ms will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous. Until the moment you wouldn’t want to have a drink with any one of them. That’s the goal. When you are totally turned off, we’ve achieved equity.”
As for the orange M&M’s stated anxiety disorder, Carlson tied it back to the de-sexing of its peers:
“…Actually, if you look at him, the orange M&M does appear very anxious. Maybe he doesn’t like all the ugly new shoes he sees around him. Maybe he liked the sexy boots. Maybe the orange M&M is a secret sexist himself.”
“Gutfeld!” picked up Saturday morning where Carlson left off. (Watch the video at the top.)
“When I eat a bag of M&MS, do I wonder which color and shape best represents my identity? No, because it’s [bleep]ing chocolate,” Gutfeld said, adding that maybe Mars Inc. could maybe update the Three Musketeers bar by replacing their swords with protest signs.
“If you really truly want to make an M&M feel like they belong, you probably shouldn’t be eating them,” Gutfeld went on. “I mean, what kind of message does it send to children when you devour these non-binary bonbons?”
Watters had a few suggestions of what he called “offensive candies” that he thought needed a branding and name change. Among them: Hershey Kisses into “Hershey Consensual Kisses,” and Butterfinger into “Butt His Finger.”
Social media users had a field day with Carlson’s outrage and the “Gutfeld!” conversation in general. Here’s a sampling:
“Tucker Carlson on Fox News is outraged because the brown M&M is no longer something he wants to take out for a drink and have sex with,” tweeted user Christian Christensen, pointing out that “This is the leading cable TV news channel in the US.”
Another speculated that the campaign was designed to bait the pundits. “I can’t help but wonder if the M&M redesign wasn’t simply done to trigger the likes of @TuckerCarlson and his mindless mob of trolls, racists, and fools,” wrote Matthew Dicks.
