M&M's yellow mascot banned — a shape and a colour turned brand advertising into an HFSS ad

On 9 January 2026 a paid-for Instagram ad for M&M's carried the words 'For a truly unique event' and 'Visit mms.com' with a Shop Now link, over two of the brand's cartoon characters: a round green M&M and an oval yellow M&M. The campaign group Bite Back complained that the ad promoted a food high in fat, salt and sugar, breaching the CAP Code's new online placement rules for less healthy food, in force since that month.

Mars Wrigley argued this was brand advertising for the M&M's range rather than for a specific product: the mascots were long-established, anthropomorphised characters with arms, legs and personalities, and neither shape nor colour would let a reasonable consumer identify a specific high-fat, high-salt or high-sugar item. The brand-advertising exemption should therefore apply.

The ASA upheld the complaint on 8 July 2026. Because of its distinct shape and colour, the yellow oval character depicted Peanut M&M's — a specific 'less healthy' product — so the ad was a paid-for ad for an identifiable less healthy product, breaching rule 15.19. It was the first time the online placement ban caught a brand character. The green round character was cleared: it represented a range of flavour variants, not a specific product. The ad must not appear again.