Editing M&M's (section)

==Color changes==
[[File:M & Ms (3685102458).jpg|left|thumb|240px|Transparent chutes hold M&Ms of various colors.]]
The original colors of M&M's candies were [[red]], [[yellow]], [[Violet (color)|violet]], [[green]] and [[Brown (color)|brown]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nww2m.com/2016/03/scitech-tuesday-wwii-and-the-invention-of-m-ms/|title=SciTech Tuesday: WWII and the Invention of M&Ms. – The National WWII Museum Blog|website=Nww2m.com|access-date=July 19, 2018|date=March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714170303/http://www.nww2m.com/2016/03/scitech-tuesday-wwii-and-the-invention-of-m-ms/|archive-date=July 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Violet was discontinued and replaced with [[tan (color)|tan]] in the late 1940s.

In 1976, Mars eliminated red-colored M&M's<ref>{{cite web|url=http://us.mms.com/us/about/history/story/|title=The Story of M&M's Brand|access-date=June 14, 2008|work=mms.com|publisher=[[Mars, Incorporated]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080409043530/http://us.mms.com/us/about/history/story/ |archive-date = April 9, 2008}}</ref> because of health concerns over the dye [[Amaranth (dye)|amaranth]] ([[FD&C]] Red #2), which was a suspected [[carcinogen]], and replaced them with orange M&M's. This was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers.<ref name="Smith"/> Ten years later, Paul Hethmon, then a student at [[University of Tennessee]], started a joke campaign to reinstate red M&M's that would eventually become a worldwide phenomenon.<ref>{{cite news
|title=The man who brought Red M&M's back to life
|first=Jim
|last=Matheny
|work=USA Today
|url=https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/18037477
|date=October 31, 2014
|access-date=February 12, 2021
|quote=1970s food dye scare eliminated red M&M's for more than a decade until a UT student successfully rallied for their return.
|archive-date=December 24, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224190931/https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/18037477
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> Red M&M's were reintroduced as a result, and the orange M&M's that had originally replaced them were kept in production. In Europe, red M&M's contain the red dye [[carmine]] (E120, cochineal).<ref>M&Ms Peanut Pouch [https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/296058732 Red M&Ms Tesco] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030919/https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/296058732 |date=November 7, 2017 }}</ref>

In early 1995, Mars ran a promotion in which consumers were invited to vote on which of blue, pink, or purple would replace the tan M&M's. Blue was the winner with 54% of the votes.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/candymakingincan0000carr|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/candymakingincan0000carr/page/78 78]|quote=smarties tablet candy history.|title=Candymaking in Canada: The History and Business of Canada's Confectionery Industry|last=Carr|first=David|date=2003|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=9781550023954|language=en}}</ref> It replaced tan in late 1995. Consumers could vote by calling 1-800-FUN-COLOR. Ads for the new blue colors featured a plain and an almond blue M&M character as Red and Yellow take notice of trying to do takes in the commercial by painting themselves blue where they appear on stage with [[B.B. King]] singing the blues, but the filmmakers had to cut the scene as they were not the real blue M&M's; another featured Red and Yellow holding their breath to look like the new blue M&M's, where [[Steven Weber (actor)|Steven Weber]] sees the three M&M's, Red, Yellow, and Blue; and one more featuring Weber talking to the blue M&M if he had dived into the chocolate pool, but did not.

In 2002, Mars solicited votes in their first ever "M&M's Global Color Vote" to add a new color from three choices: [[Aqua (color)|aqua]] ([[Turquoise (color)|turquoise]]), [[pink]], and purple. To help the colors get votes, [[Ken Schrader]] and his [[MB2 Motorsports]] team, who was sponsored by M&M's at the time, ran four paint schemes during the [[2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series|2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season]] representing the promotion (one for aqua, one for pink, one for purple, and another one with all three colors on the car). Once purple won and was featured for a limited time, specially marked packages of M&M's were released. Finding a bag of all purple M&M's entitled American customers to a prize of 100 million [[Japanese yen]] (equivalent to approximately US$852,000), payable in U.S. dollars. Other cash prizes, amounting to over 50,000, came in [[euro]]s, [[Australian dollar]]s, [[Brazilian real|Brazilian reais]], [[Mexican peso]]s and U.S. [[Penny (United States coin)|pennies]].

Since 2004, M&M's have been available online in 17 colors, with personalized phrases on each candy on the opposite side from the "m".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mymms.com/|title=Custom Printed MY M&M's|work=mms.com|publisher=[[Mars, Incorporated]]|access-date=February 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211174015/http://www.mymms.com/|archive-date=February 11, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Released around Christmas, these custom-printed M&M's were originally intended for [[holiday greetings]], but are now available all year round.

For the 2008 [[Valentine's Day]] season, Mars introduced all-green bags of M&M's. This was due to common [[Urban legend|urban folklore]] that says green M&M's are an [[aphrodisiac]].<ref>{{cite news|title=M&M's Chocolate Candies go green just in time for Valentine's Day|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mars/31278/|agency=PR Newswire|date=January 16, 2008|access-date=August 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913095216/http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mars/31278/|archive-date=September 13, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> They were brought back for 2009 alongside the "Ms. Green Heats Up Valentine's Day" contest.

In October 2011, Mars released M&M's [[White Chocolate]] [[Candy Corn]] exclusively in the United States for [[Halloween]]. These candies come in three candy corn inspired colors: white, bright yellow, and bright orange.

The following is a summary of the changes to the colors of the flagship ([[milk chocolate]]) flavor of M&M's, the only filling manufactured continuously since the beginning of the brand. From 1941 until 1969, each package contained M&M's in five different colors; when red M&M's were reintroduced in 1987, they were added as a sixth color instead of replacing any of the existing colors.

<div class="center">
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Alignbars = justify
DateFormat  = yyyy
Period = from:1940 till:{{Currentyear}}
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =
  id:lighttext       value:rgb(0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
  id:brown   value:rgb(0.32, 0.20, 0.18)
  id:tan     value:rgb(0.57, 0.44, 0.22)
  id:red     value:rgb(0.86, 0.08, 0.16)
  id:orange  value:rgb(0.98, 0.30, 0)
  id:yellow  value:rgb(0.95, 0.95, 0.05)
  id:green   value:rgb(0.20, 0.70, 0.34)
  id:blue    value:rgb(0.05, 0.15, 0.85)
  id:violet  value:rgb(0.55, 0.27, 0.55)
  id:purple  value:rgb(0.35, 0.25, 0.35)

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BarData =
  bar:mmbrown  text:"Brown"
  bar:mmyellow text:"Yellow"
  bar:mmgreen  text:"Green"
  bar:mmred1   text:"Red"
  bar:mmorange text:"Orange"
  bar:mmviolet text:"Purple"
  bar:mmtan    text:"Tan"
  bar:mmblue   text:"Blue"

PlotData =
  width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
  bar:mmbrown  from:1941 till:end color:brown
  bar:mmyellow from:1941 till:end color:yellow
  bar:mmgreen  from:1941 till:end color:green
  bar:mmviolet from:1941 till:1949 color:violet
  bar:mmviolet from:2002 till:2003 color:violet
  bar:mmred1   from:1941 till:1976 color:red
  bar:mmred1   from:1987 till:end color:red
  bar:mmtan    from:1949 till:1995 color:tan
  bar:mmorange from:1976 till:end color:orange
  bar:mmblue   from:1995 till:end color:blue
}}
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