Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010
By Claire Suddath
If you were born in or before the 1980s and your parents allowed you to eat candy, chances are good that you encountered tan M&Ms. But for those of you who had your first chocolate experience in the mid-90s, you will probably know the current M&M color line up, which includes the color blue.
In 1995, the Mars candy company decided that having two shades of brown M&Ms were unnecessary, so they did away with the light brown ones, leaving only the colors red, yellow, green, dark brown and orange. Mars held a replacement contest, inviting candy lovers to call a 1-800 number and vote for their favorite proposed color: blue, pink, or purple. Blue won, and M&Ms never looked the same since.
