M&M's Just Hinted At 'Something New' And The Internet Is Guessing What It Might Be
Candy, like M&M's, is very simple, all things considered. It's nothing elaborate or fancy — it doesn't even need a shiny wrapper exalting all the many ingredients to make it stand out. In its simplest form, an M&M is just a piece of chocolate smaller than a dime covered in a colorful candy coating. It may come as a surprise that despite its tiny size, the chocolate morsel led the chocolate candy industry by $688.7 million in 2017 (via Statista).
Of course, this doesn't mean M&M's hasn't tried its hand at all sorts of crazy new flavors. One of its flavors is inspired by a classic treat, while other times, the candy brand has gone for the unexpected, such as the "Chili Nut" flavor that combines chocolate and chili extract (via Eater). While all these flavors have usually met with pleasant surprise or confusion, M&M's latest teaser on Instagram seems to be getting people talking since no one knows what it's hinting at.
The teaser only consists of the words "something new is coming," followed by a date for September 13, 2022. The words flash in various colors, with the only hint being that viewers should "pause" the ad to see what is coming. Some particularly quick viewers claimed to notice the color purple flashed among the usual red, green, yellow, blue, and brown.
What could purple mean?
Aside from this teaser, no one is sure what the color purple has to do with M&M's. Some speculate that a new color is being announced, while others believe it hints toward a unique flavor. While we obviously can't say which one is correct at the moment, we can analyze each theory and see if they hold water.
If M&M's is focusing on releasing a new color, they would be about two decades due for one. According to a 2002 report from CNN Money, the color blue was chosen to replace tan-colored M&M's in 1995, meaning that we haven't seen a "new" color since the mid-90s. CNN Money's primary focus was that a fan-chosen color was going to be added for a limited time — that color being purple. Purple M&M's existed for a brief amount of time before fading back into the candy jars in the cupboards of history. Adding some more credence to this theory is that you can buy purple M&M's in bulk on their own (via M&M's).
If M&M's is releasing a new flavor that has something to do with purple, perhaps it could involve something with jam. After all, blackberry and grape jams are purple. The candy does have peanut butter flavor, so the idea of a PB&J M&M may not be too far out there. New flavor or new color, purple will be a welcome sight in M&M's lineup.