Blue M&Ms were just the beginning. Get ready for gold, silver, teal green and purple.
M&M-Mars is expanding its 56-year-old candy line to include 18 new colors that cross the spectrum.The old standards - red, green, yellow, brown, orange and the relatively new blue introduced in March 1995 - now will compete with the likes of white and black, pink and maroon, aqua green and light yellow.
"Color has been so integral in M&M's life span, and consumers love color," said Marlene Machut, a spokeswoman for Hackettstown, N.J.-based M&M-Mars. "We felt this was the right time to come out with this."
The new colors, however, will be sold only in specialty stores in 26 markets from Denver to the East Coast. The M&M's, which come in the plain chocolate variety, will not be sold in individual packages but rather by weight.
FAO Schweetz in Chicago, owned by toy store FAO Schwartz, already carries the new colors, and other stores should have them in stock over the next two weeks, Machut said.
Supermarkets will not carry the new colors for the time being.
"This is a test in terms of this creative batch of colors," Machut said. "All of these shoppers (who purchase the new colors) are telling us what they think" and eventually some of these colors may be marketed elsewhere.
The traditional M&M mix remained unchanged from 1949 until the blue debut 11/2 years ago, except for a decadelong leave-of-absence by the red drop, removed in 1976 because of what the company called misplaced concern over the food dye. Red returned in 1987.