Worldwide Voters Choose Purple As Newest Color in 'M&M's' Bag
NEW YORK - The votes are in, and purple is the newest color to join the "M&M's" mix. Voters in more than 200 countries selected which color -- purple, pink or aqua -- would join Red, Yellow and the rest of the gang in the "M&M's" bag.
The world's first Global Color Vote culminated in a gala event in New York City where recording artists Ashanti and Wyclef Jean treated the hundreds on hand to live performances in honor of purple's win. The festivities, hosted by actor Fred Willard, were Web cast around the world enabling the millions who voted to join in the celebration.
After months of sampling the candidates in specially marked bags, worldwide voters chose purple -- with 41 percent of the vote. Aqua garnered 37 percent while pink managed 19 percent.
Beginning in August 2002, purple will be added to the current blend of red, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown for a limited time.
"M&M's" Chocolate Candies were first introduced in 1941 and the original color mix included red, yellow, green, brown, orange and violet. In 1949, tan replaced violet. A nationwide vote was cast in 1995 where Americans chose blue as the color to replace tan. Today, more than 400 million "M&M's" Chocolate Candies are produced each day totaling more than 146 billion each year.
The world's first Global Color Vote culminated in a gala event in New York City where recording artists Ashanti and Wyclef Jean treated the hundreds on hand to live performances in honor of purple's win. The festivities, hosted by actor Fred Willard, were Web cast around the world enabling the millions who voted to join in the celebration.
After months of sampling the candidates in specially marked bags, worldwide voters chose purple -- with 41 percent of the vote. Aqua garnered 37 percent while pink managed 19 percent.
Beginning in August 2002, purple will be added to the current blend of red, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown for a limited time.
"M&M's" Chocolate Candies were first introduced in 1941 and the original color mix included red, yellow, green, brown, orange and violet. In 1949, tan replaced violet. A nationwide vote was cast in 1995 where Americans chose blue as the color to replace tan. Today, more than 400 million "M&M's" Chocolate Candies are produced each day totaling more than 146 billion each year.