Cherry M&Ms? Green is the color of love? Has M&M Mars lost its mind?

If I were going to be marooned on a desert island, or stuck on top of Mt. Washington for the winter, and I could only take one candy with me, it would probably be M&Ms - melts in your mouth, not in your hand - hands down.

So I’ve watched their product tweaks and brand extensions over the years with interest.

As a traditionalist, I wasn’t all that happy to see "tan" retired, but I’m liking "blue" just fine. And while I was content with the choice of plain vs. peanut, I don’t mind the almond, crunch, or dark chocolate versions. (When I say I don’t mind them, that doesn’t mean I’d actually buy them. While in real life, I prefer dark to milk chocolate any old day, I’ve never even bought a bag of the dark M&M’s.) I don’t mind those little plastic cylinders with the mini-M&M’s in them. And I actually enjoy seeing the holiday versions, especially the red and green packages at Christmas. (I’m not wild about the pastels for Easter, however. Somehow, they just don’t look right.)

Although they’re pretty expensive, I think the idea of personalized M&M’s, with your own color scheme and message, is a really fun one. I did some consulting work last year for a company that had some done in their corporate colors - way cool. I also got a kick out of seeing the Major League Baseball M&M’s that were introduced this year (I think). Way too pricey, but if someone wanted to give me a bag of Red Sox M&M’s, I wouldn’t say no.

I don’t even mind the characters that have been made out of the M&M’s. (Let’s face it, the idea of a stuffed M&M is pretty funny.)

So I was intrigued to see all-green packages of M&M’s on the shelf this winter.

Was it for St. Patrick’s Day?

Was it M&M Mars attempting to "go green" - and throw some of the proceeds toward environmental causes.

No, it was actually for Valentine’s Day, since green is the new color of love.

I wasn’t aware of that, and frankly, it’s something that I just don’t get. Red is the color of St. Valentine’s Day and, by extension, of love.

And when it comes to green for candy, unless it’s as part of the Xmas combo - or for St. Paddy’s Day - green is actually the color of lime or spearmint.

The packages of green M&M’s have disappeared (in the 7-11 I saw them in, that happened about a month after Valentine’s Day). Only to be replaced on the shelf by new cherry M&M’s.

Sorry, but it’s one thing to insert variations on a theme of chocolates and nuts into M&M’s. But flavored M&M’s.

I suppose I should actually buy a bag and try them before I go on a rant.

But there are some things that just shouldn’t happen.

Flavored M&Ms? Green is the color of love?

Maybe it sells a few more bags, but I doubt there will be enough repeat purchases to justify the expense of manufacture.

The M&M is a near perfect piece of confection. Why mess with perfection?

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