By Mae Anderson, Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Mars says it's pausing using its trademark M&M's spokescandies and has enlisted actor and comedian Maya Rudolph to star in its marketing efforts, including its Super Bowl ad campaign.
The news comes three weeks before M&Ms is set to return to the Super Bowl with an ad after sitting it out last year. Mars hasn't disclosed any other creative details about the ad.
The Super Bowl is advertising's biggest stage, with big-name brands pulling out all the stops and paying millions for a 30-second ad in an effort to capture the attention of the more than 100 million viewers that watch the game live. Many spend millions more on marketing campaigns leading up to the big event.
Mars revamped the M&M candies last year. which are featured in red, green, orange, yellow, brown and blue, to give them more nuanced personalities. The green M&M ditched high-heeled boots in favor of sneakers and the brown candy opted for lower heels instead of stilettos. Some fans weren't happy about the changes and took to social media to complain.
In a posting widely shared on social media on Monday, Mars said it was taking an "indefinite" pause on using the spokescandies.
"Now we get it — even a candy's shoes can be polarizing," the statement said. "Which was the last thing M&M's wanted since we're all about bringing people together."
Mars didn't say how long the pause would be for. Some likened the news to a publicity stunt that Planters tried in 2020 when it announced it was "killing off" its beloved spokescharacter Mr. Peanut ahead of the game.
"M&Ms announcing that they're getting rid of long-standing and (mostly) beloved mascots because of peer pressure is newsworthy," said Steve Merino, chief creative officer at ad agency Aloysius Butler & Clark. "That being said, many brands use their Super Bowl moment as a chance to pull a publicity stunt. Remember when Planters faked getting rid of Mr. Peanut? We'll see if this is real, or just a thin candy shell."
In Planters case, the ruse did not go seamlessly. Planters teased its Super Bowl ad nearly two weeks before the game, releasing a teaser that showed its Mr. Peanut mascot seemingly being killed. But when Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash, the marketing stunt suddenly seemed insensitive, so Planters paused its pre-game advertising. The actual Super Bowl ad was relatively inoffensive, with a baby Mr. Peanut appearing at the funeral. Planters is also returning to the Super Bowl this year for the first time since 2020, with an ad featuring Mr. Peanut.
The Super Bowl LVII will take place Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and will be broadcast on Fox.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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