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A&W jokingly updates mascot’s ‘polarizing’ wardrobe day after M&Ms spokescandy announcement

January 25, 2023 | | Print Article

In what has every marking of trolling a competitor, A&W Restaurants announced that its mascot will now wear denim jeans to avoid the risk of being “polarizing.”

The wardrobe change for Rooty the Great Root Bear, the company’s mascot for 60 years, comes on the heels of M&M’s manufacturer Mars Inc. announcing an “indefinite pause” of its woke “spokescandies” after a recent makeover.

“America, let’s talk. Since 1963, Rooty the Great Root Bear has been our beloved spokesbear. We knew people would notice because he’s literally a 6-foot tall bear wearing an orange sweater,” read a tweet from A&W Restaurants. “But now we get it – even a mascot’s lack of pants can be polarizing.”

“Therefore, we have decided that Rooty will wear jeans going forward. Not to worry though: he will remain our official spokesbear. After all, he is un-bear-ably cute and im-paw-ssible to replace. We are confident Rooty will continue to champion good food & good times for many years to come…now in denim.”

The tweet looks and sounds eerily close to a statement put out the day before by Mars, Inc.

“America, let’s talk. In the last year, we’ve made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice. And we definitely didn’t think it would break the internet. But now we get it — even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing. Which was the last thing M&M’s wanted, since we’re all about bringing people together,” the M&M’s brand said in a tweet Monday.

“Therefore, we have decided to take an indefinite pause from the spokescandies. In their place, we are proud to introduce a new spokesperson America can agree on: the beloved Maya Rudolph,”  Mars added. “We are confident Ms. Rudolph will champion the power of fun to create a world where everyone feels they belong.”

The tweet perhaps serves as the latest iteration of the adage, “Go woke, go broke.”

As for A&W Restaurants, their effort was a brilliant play on M&M’s misfortune to draw attention to their product line — although the company made sure to cover all bases with this follow-up:

A&W Restaurants also had a little fun engaging with social media users, likely winning over even more fans:

Tom Tillison
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