(NEXSTAR) — After a brief hiatus, M&M’s beloved “spokescandies” have returned.
M&M’s confirmed the news on its website after a Super Bowl spot featuring “Saturday Night Live” star Maya Rudolph, who temporarily replaced the candy mascots as the brand’s spokesperson.
Now, Red, Yellow and all the other M&M’s spokescandies “are back for good,” the company said after the Super Bowl spot featuring Rudolph. The ad also showed Red in an obviously unsweet sign of desperation.
In announcing that the candied mascots had been reinstated, M&M’s said, “We believe in the power of fun to bring people together.”
“Over the past year, the conversation around our iconic spokescandies reached new heights but at times got a bit ‘lively,'” the brand said. “We wanted to positively redirect the passion of that conversation to bring the fun back into it, and help people laugh and move on together with our latest Super Bowl campaign.”
With the spokescandies’ return, the brand said, “Now, we can get on with what we are here to do: create a world where everyone feels they belong.”
Mars, the company behind the candy-coated chocolates, said last month that it was temporarily shelving its M&M’s mascots after receiving backlash over recent design changes.
The drama played out after M&M’s controversial attempts to create a “fresh, modern take” on the animated candy characters, including last October’s introduction of the new purple M&M.
Other changes included the green M&M trading her go-go boots for a pair of sneakers and the brown M&M changing her motto to “Not bossy. Just the boss.” Mars also announced a limited release of “all-female” packages that included new female cast member Purple.
The changes drew backlash and sparked debate online as well as from FOX News political commentator Tucker Carlson.
“The green M&M got her boots back, but apparently is now a lesbian, maybe? And there’s also a plus-sized, obese purple M&M, so we’re gonna cover that, of course,” he said on FOX News. “Because that’s what we do.”
After the post-Super Bowl announcement of the M&M’s mascots’ return, the back-on-the-job spokescandies appeared in a 15-second post-game spot at a “press conference” to express how they feel about being back.
Purple said she is glad to be back because this is what she “was made for,” while Red said indignantly, “I can’t believe we were actually put on pause.”
