For the doctor of philosophy Sami Biasoni, the confrontation between the right and the brand symbolizes “the natural evolution of neo-progressive demands”.
Through Alice Pairo-Vasseur
© ZHONG YANG/Imaginechina/Imaginechina via AFP
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LThe pressure does not come, as is regularly the case in this type of confrontation, from the progressive camp. But the story is no less significant. Criticized by part of the American right, the confectioner M&M’s gave up this Monday, January 23 to use in its advertisements the plump characters evoking the shape of its candies.
The story of a brand taken at its own game. A story that “testifies to the limits of moral capitalism” and “the very heavy societal tension generated by these companies with their identity claims and their allegiance to this or that ideology”, emphasizes Sami Biasoni, Doctor of Philosophy from the École Normale Supérieure.
For him, this case is an eloquent illustration of a “backlash” (“backlash”) which defenders of the “woke” movement may be subject to. “It is level two, that of the counter-attack, which shows the evolution of the debate on the question “woke”, theorized under the expression “go woke, get broke” [soyez woke et vous trouverez sur votre chemin des opposants] “, develops the specialist.
woke treats
The case begins last September, in the United States. M&M’s creates a new advertising character. Called “Purple” (violet) as a symbol of the LGBTQ community, it joins “Green” (green) and “Brown” (brown) supposed to “represent acceptance and inclusion”. Controversy on the Web, where confectioners are accused of politicizing sweets “that have become woke”.
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New outcry at the beginning of January: the brand is marketing a limited edition package, containing only these three colors. Carried by Tucker Carlson (“The M&M’s “woke” are back”), one of the stars of the American channel Fox News, known for his conservative positions, the controversy echoes a first controversy which had erupted in January 2022. The same presenter then criticized the brand for having replaced the white boots of “Green” with sneakers, with the sole aim of making her “less sexy”, certainly more androgynous.
“We never imagined disrupting the Internet. “Anxious to remove the risk of losing some of its consumers as quickly as possible, the brand, property of Mars Incorporated, reacts, this Monday, January 23, on Twitter. Returning to the events that occurred a year earlier, she confides her disappointment to see that “a candy’s shoes can arouse polarization”. And announces to put an end, “for an indefinite time”, to the use of its characters, leaving all the same the door open for a possible shattering return in a few weeks…
Red flags
Laughable? “We don’t really know what is more so between those who denounce the fact of having removed their heels from a character and those who had the idea to do it! recognizes Sami Biasoni. But “this controversy nonetheless testifies to the natural evolution of neo-progressive demands”, with the emergence of “an opposition inscribed in another form of radicalism, where all demands become possible and everyone becomes the caricature of oneself”, an “endless logic, without alternative”, he explains.
“We must not underestimate this fight toe to toe,” warns Biasoni, however. “It shows two visions of the world that have become irreconcilable. But tomorrow, France could quite espouse these antagonisms, and already tremors of this polarization are emerging…” underlines the specialist, who warns: “This is what could happen to our debate public, if these facts are not read as warning signs. »
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