(LOOTPRESS) – A&W has apparently taken notice of the recent controversy regarding the M&M’s “spokescandies” and has responded with a marketing change of their own.
In a Tuesday statement released via social media, A&W Restaurants addressed the entire country regarding the issue of Rooty, the pantsless animated mascot which has represented the company’s beloved brand of root beer for several decades.
“America, let’s talk,” began the statement. “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. But now we get it – even a mascot’s lack of pants can be polarizing.”
The statement goes on to reveal that Rooty the Great Root Bear will be animated as wearing jeans in the future, but that unlike the M&M’s spokecandies, he will not be replaced by actress Maya Rudolph or by anyone else.
“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 that Rooty will continue to champion good food & good times for many years to come…now in denim.”
The message appears to mirror that released by the official M&M’s Twitter earlier in the week, though this is never directly acknowledged.
The message in question released by the M&M’s account addresses physical changes to the animation of the “spokescandies” which apparently broke the internet and polarized a great many people.
Many Twitter users found the release to be absurd, with response remarks ranging from “what a stupid silly country” to “I am moving to a shack in the forest and am no longer participating in society.”
A&W Restaurants does appear to be in on the humor, however. As shortly after the release of the message revealing Rooty the Great Root Bear’s updated wardrobe, a subsequent tweet was added querying, “Is now a good time to mention this is a joke?”
Outrage regarding a multitude of seemingly trivial topics has abounded over the past several years, with said outrage being leveraged more often than not for political purposes.
It is unclear at the time of writing whether A&W truly do intend do design Rooty the Great Root Bear as wearing jeans at any point moving forward.