Tucker Carlson's Take On The New M&Ms Ad Is Turning Heads
FOX host Tucker Carlson is known for, among other things, his pop culture rants in which he laments how "wokeness" is proving to be the downfall of American society. This week, however, it seems he reached just a little too far, as rather than an avalanche of agreement and support, he is being met with a serious panning and plenty of ridicule (via Forbes).
What did Carlson take issue with this time? The Mars candy company's decision to change up its marketing of M&Ms by changing the appearance of two of the personified candies that happen to be presented as female. Specifically, he was bothered by the fact that the green M&M has stopped wearing her knee-high go-go boots and is opting for sneakers instead, and the brown M&M has traded in her stilettos for shorter heels. Why did he care? Because now these candies are "less sexy." His words.
Carlson ranted, "M&M's 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.That's the goal. When you are totally turned off, we've achieved equity. They've won." (NewsWeek)
While the FOX host didn't clarify which chocolate candy he had previously fantasized about taking out for a drink, he did go on to say that perhaps the reason the orange M&M has anxiety is because "Maybe he doesn't like all the ugly new shoes he sees around him" (Forbes).
The internet reacts
Social media exploded with responses to Carlson's rant, with many comments making fun of Carlson's assertion that a personified candy was ever supposed to be a potential date for a human man, and others pointing out that making a candy ad a political issue might be a bit of a stretch. One Twitter user said, "Does Tucker Carlson know you don't actually have sex with the M&Ms?" while another said, "JFC the man is worried about candy? He's politicising candy?" (via The Independent).
Another person Tweeted, "Hi I'm Tucker Carlson and here to discuss the liberal agenda with me is the green M&M." Another joked, "Whichever M&Ms marketing exec came up with the idea to bait Tucker Carlson into ranting about M&M is getting a raise." While the world may be making fun of Carlson, this last commenter has a point; where it comes to marketing and publicity, it's probably been a great week for M&Ms.