MnM Collectors Club

True colors: Vote for newest M&Ms color

Around the world, people are logging on to their computers and casting their ballots. Again and again. It's the one election where age, status and national voting rules don't apply. Vote often, they encourage. Vote for one. Or vote for all. Purple? Pink? Or aqua? Few elections have garnered as much worldwide attention as the M&Ms Global Color Vote under way in 78 countries through May 31. Get real, you say. We are. This is serious business. On June 19 Masterfoods USA will announce the newest color to gain a permanent place in bags of M&Ms. Hardly as important as world peace, you say. Perhaps. But then again M&Ms have brought people, countries and complete strangers together, all in the name of a chocolate treat and a humorous looking collectible. M&Ms are the candy of our youth. The candy of our parents' youth. When the GIs went off to fight World War II, M&Ms went along in their food rations. M&Ms have gone to the moon. That package now sits on permanent exhibit in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. M&Ms' round and oval animated characters have surpassed Mickey Mouse and Bart Simpson in popularity, according to Marketing Evaluation Inc. M&Ms are the candy that Omaha's Linda Roberts can no longer eat, because of diabetes. But that doesn't stop her from keeping her 30 different M&M dispensers stocked, nor did it deter her from dropping more than $700 at M&Ms World in Las Vegas last year. She has an M&Ms guest room, M&Ms in the kitchen, living room and dining room. Her house is home to stuffed M&M characters, M&M stained glass, M&M salt, pepper and sugar containers, M&M books, M&M cross stitch, M&M pillows, M&M books and "a small collection" (just 75) of M&M NASCAR cars. But Roberts is just a novice in the world of M&Ms devotees. Ginny Wolfe's home in Pennsylvania is chock full of M&Ms memorabilia, from candy tube toppers to clocks, watches, advertisements, plush toys, pins, hats, keychains, coffee mugs, lunch boxes and candy boxes -- even emptied and cleaned ice cream cartons with M&Ms on the label. "I make my dad eat the ice cream, and then wash out the carton and give it to me," Wolfe said. Wolfe is president and co-founder of the M&Ms Collectors Club, an international organization boasting more than 300 dues-paying members. It's a phenomenon, said Larry Abel, vice president of retail for M&Ms and M&Ms World store in Las Vegas. "People loves M&Ms," he said. Be it chocolate, peanut, almond, crispy, peanut butter or the new chocolate-caramel which is only available in a few select markets, everyone has a favorite M&Ms flavor and color. And M&Ms World is the only place in the world where people can find all 21 M&Ms colors to mix and match. M&Ms have a colorful 61 year history. The original M&Ms that went off to WWII came in just six colors: brown, yellow, orange, red, green and violet. By the late 1940s, M&Ms became available to the public, selling for a nickel a tube. The M&Ms characters -- Red and Yellow -- debuted in 1954. Green, the first "female" M&M, joined the trio in 1997, inadvertently adding a little sexual tension. It was rumored that the green M&Ms had "aphrodisiac qualities." And, although M&M/MARS maintains it has no medical or scientific proof of these amorous characteristics, the company joined in with the "Is it true what they say about green ones?" advertising campaign. While would-be lovers were chowing down on green M&Ms, poor old red suffered a less desirable fate. It was pulled out of production when the FDA banned the use of red dye #2. But as everyone knows, there is nothing quite as appealing as something that has been banned. Soon "red" rumors started, claiming red was an even more powerful aphrodisiac than the green. According to an urban legends Internet site, M&M/MARS employees began pocketing them off of the assembly line. These days the candy and memorabilia share a sweet marriage of popularity. And there is enough M&M character merchandise from clothes to dish sets, jewelry to shower curtains to furniture that it fills the entire four-story 28,000 square-foot M&Ms World -- the only store of its kind on the planet. "It's an M&Ms mecca," Wolfe said. Not surprisingly, the M&M Collectors Club will hold its national convention in Las Vegas next year. Like most M&M memorabilia collectors, Wolfe's M&Ms passion started innocently. "I grew up in an average family," she recalled in a telephone interview. "My parents were blue collar. When my brother and I got M&Ms as kids, it was very special." But when it came to collecting, she chose Campbell Soup themes. Until she came across an M&M topper -- one of those whimsical characters adorning a clear plastic tube of colorful candies. "It was just so cute and adorable I couldn't pack it away," said the 57-year-old grandmother. She set it on top of the computer in her husband's in-home office. Then came another topper, and another, and another and ... "I just kept lining them up," Wolfe said. Her husband confessed it was a bit disconcerting to be stared at by all those smiling guys. "I realized I was taking up a lot of space," Wolfe said. "So I moved them into the family room, which didn't have anything other than a pool table (at the time). "Today I have thousands of items in there -- all of it M&Ms stuff," she said. Through the collector's club the Wolfes have met people from all over the world. People who collect M&Ms bags, like the man with more than 700 different empty bags filling photo albums. People who collect a single color, like the woman in Indiana with Yellow. Wolfe does overseas M&M exchanges with people in Australia, Europe and Canada. And collectors now hold M&Ms picnics across the country, introducing M&M newbies to their world. Roberts is one of Nebraska's representatives in the M&Ms Collectors Club. Like Wolfe, her ascent into M&Ms heaven began innocently enough. "I bought an M&M watch," said Roberts, 52. With the watch came an order form for a double M&M collector's dispenser. "I ordered it for the grandkids," Roberts said. "But when I got it, I just loved it." And so it began. First with the stuffed characters. "They are so cute and cuddly," Robert cooed. She finds them at discount stores, department stores, secondhand shops, rummage sales and mail order promotions. Today, she has about 135 stuffed M&M characters of all colors, shapes, sizes and costumes. She chuckles about this M&M fixation. "I guess I am just a kid at heart," Roberts said. Besides, "who can say anything bad about M&Ms," she asked. And what will be the newest color? Masterfoods USA is keeping vote totals a closely guarded secret. But if Wolfe's and Robert's multiple votes are any indication -- purple is it. Reach Erin Andersen at 473-7217 or eandersen@journalstar.com. Pink, purple, or aqua? What color will you choose for the next M&M? Cast your vote for pink, purple or aqua at www.mms.com. Voting closes Friday. The new color will be announced June 19.

Reprinted from the Lincoln Journal Star, Nebraska

True colors: Vote for newest M&Ms color