Everything You Need To Know About The New M&M's Color

It's hard not to feel a tad bit guilty biting into an M&M. Thanks to the company's clever marketing and a collection of lovable candy-based characters, it's impossible to look at a yellow M&M, for instance, without thinking of the simple but affable Yellow. Whether you relate best to Red's sarcastic wit, Blue's obvious charisma, Orange's high anxiety, Green's sex appeal, or Brown's intellectual prowess, these lovable orbs certainly make devouring a bag of this Mars confection a guilty pleasure. This is, after all, exactly the ending that Orange has spent his life dreading. 

When the advertising agency BBDO was hired by the M&M brand in 1995, Insider reveals that they decided to transform the candy's hues into "a comedic ensemble." The anthropomorphic confections starred in a Super Bowl ad and spawned five M&M World stores internationally. And, of course, sweet tooths everywhere began gobbling up these rainbow-colored morsels. The characters were recently updated to "better reflect today's society," including more wearer-friendly footwear for the two female candies and a new focus on Yellow's optimism and Red's willingness to be a "team player" (via The Washington Post). And in keeping with Gen Z's high levels of anxiety, Orange has been identified as having the most relatable personality. 

With the recent announcement of a whole new M&M shade and its corresponding character, everyone is asking two big questions. What's the new color, and what attributes will this rookie M&M character possess? 

When M&Ms hinted at "something new" earlier this month, it got fans guessing. Well, it turns out that the candy brand was hinting at a new hue. It only makes sense that the newest member of the M&M extended family would be purple. After all, fans have been hankering for purple for ages. In 2002, CNN Money reported that over 10 million candy consumers voted to have purple added to the M&M palette — and their wishes have finally come true. 

Purple will be the first new mascot introduced in 10 years; CNN describes her as a singing peanut who "sports lace-up boots." AdWeek reveals that Purple appears in a two-minute video singing an original song titled "I'm Just Gonna Be Me," where the character attempts to "replace self-doubt with self-confidence." But wait, there's more. According to Today, each time the song is streamed, M&M will donate one dollar (up to a maximum of $500K) to Sing For Hope, a charity that uses the arts to bring about healing. 

There's just one important caveat. While the Purple character may become a highly visible fixture, the purple candy will not be hanging out with the other colors in regular bags of M&Ms anytime soon. CNN reveals that the purple treats can be ordered online — though the publication also notes that this option "was already available" on the M&M's website. If nothing else, fans of the color purple (the candy, not the flick), could be one step closer to seeing this cheerful hue become as commonplace as Yellow or Red.