The Rarest M&M Color Used To Be The Most Common In The '90s

Does it seem like a bag of M&M's in the 1990s used to contain far more of the brown variety than any of the other colors? You might be surprised to learn that this isn't another example of the Mandela Effect, that curious phenomena involving misremembered memories. Three decades ago, brown M&M's did rule the candy bag, comprising 30% of the M-stamped chocolate treat. However, what used to be the most common color saw a demotion in 2007 when its percentage shrank to just 13%.

Since 2017, blue M&M's have reigned supreme, making up 24% of the mix. The shift appeared to be a direct color swap, since the blue-coated candies were the rarest back in the day, accounting for just 10% of the batch. And with the blue variety's ascension to the M&M's throne, the brown candies have faded into near-obscurity for reasons not disclosed by Mars Inc. We can only surmise that the change might have something to do with the aesthetics of snacking and their appeal to consumers. 

As the natural color of chocolate, brown may not be as visually exciting as blue, even though all the M&M's technically taste the same. Apparently, the color ratio in an M&M's bag is determined by consumer preference tests, which is not far off from our assumption.

While Mars opted to salvage and keep brown M&M's in the modern M&M's candy bag, it wasn't as forgiving to another color. When M&M's entered the candy scene in 1941, purple was part of its original lineup of colors, alongside red, yellow, brown, and green, but was replaced by tan in 1949. Color changes are among the many facts that might change the way you look at M&M's, including the temporary discontinuation of red in 1976 over health concerns surrounding Red No. 2 dye (it was replaced by orange and then revived in 1987). Blue was added into the mix in 1995, after winning a nationwide campaign that gathered 10 million votes.

Purple was a finalist in the 1995 campaign, alongside pink, but in 2002, the color secured a second chance at revival after besting pink and aqua to win the Global Color Vote. But purple's future was relegated to a brief appearance as part of a limited-edition offering:  Mars unveiled a new spokescandy in 2022 named Purple, its first new M&M character in a decade. Although the announcement initially revived hope for fans of the purple M&M's, the company did not bring back the color in any of its regular bags after that. Today, you can only get purple M&M's when you buy the specialty bags available at Mars' store in Times Square, New York, or via custom online orders. Outside of those options, the purple candy color remains elusive.