We at Vulture support national treasure Maya Rudolph in all her endeavors. If those endeavors include changing the name of M&M’s to Ma&Yas and adding clams, then so be it, actually. Unfortunately for our queen, Super Bowl Sunday did not just include a win for the Kansas City Chiefs, but also a win for those pesky little chocolate spokescandies.
The M&M’s have had a year of wild publicity. First, in January 2022, the iconically mother green M&M got her little booties removed in favor of sneakers, leading to outrage from both sides of the aisle, including from Tucker Carlson — who later got mad at the inclusion of an “obese†purple M&M — because that’s what people do. In response, the M&M’s brand pretended to retire its iconic spokescandies for publicity and announced that they would be replaced by Maya Rudolph, whom everyone can agree on. The bit? Rudolph was running the company into the ground with her terrible ideas, though a little bit of salty clam with chocolate sounds fine to us. You go, Maya!
By the end of Super Bowl Sunday, the M&M’s were officially back at their old post, with a mock press conference. “I’m glad to be back because this is what I was made for,†Tucker Carlson’s enemy, the purple M&M, said in the commercial. “As a walking, talking candy, my options are pretty limited.†For those not up on M&M’s lore, this was a confusing commercial. For Carlson, it was a nightmare.