How A&W Restaurants Had a Little Fun Over M&Ms' Decision to Yank Its 'Spokescandies'

Matt Vespa | January 27, 2023 12:45 PM

Spencer wrote about M&Ms playing woke games, which has caused a backlash for being needlessly stupid. The company has long had its “spokescandies” be the face of its marketing campaigns. They rolled out an all-female troupe for some of their packagings, which is comical given that some people are unwilling or unable to define a woman to avoid offending the transgender community. When some folks think men can mensurate and have babies, sick things will happen upstream. The company announced they were retiring their spokescandies in favor of former SNL cast member and actress Maya Rudolph. Yet, A&W Root Beer tried to get in on the fun by adding pants to ‘Rooty the Great Root Bear’ (via CBS News):

A&W Restaurants didn't shy away from the online uproar over M&M's decision to put its cartoon "spokescandies" on hiatus.
Mars, which owns M&M's, publicly acknowledged this week that "even a candy's shoes can be polarizing" after drawing criticism and even ridicule for changing the animated candies' appearance, including exchanging the green M&M's go-go boots for sneakers.
Not to be upstaged by gang of candy-coated chocolates, A&W tweeted on Tuesday that it had decided to clothe its previously pant-less bear character — dubbed "Rooty the Great Root Bear" — in denim jeans because "even a mascot's lack of pants can be polarizing." The tweet has since been viewed more than 4 million times and received 46,000 likes.
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A&W is a privately held fast-food chain famous for its root beer floats. The company has roughly 600 locations across the U.S., about 100 of which are connected to gas stations or convenience stores. Rooty has been the chain's mascot since 1963.