The hosts of the Fox News program Outnumbered were widely mocked online after they complained the new package of all-female M&M's candy will help China take over "the entire world."
How the hosts managed to link candy to a very complicated foreign policy relationship and its implications is still not entirely clear but their complaints came after Mars, the company which produces M&M's, announced it would produce packs “spotlighting dynamic female M&M’S characters.”
The new packs of candy "celebrate women everywhere who are flipping the status quo," Mars said in a press release, noting that the packaging "will feature Purple, Brown and Green on inspirational packaging."
But that proved too much for the Fox hosts, who were quick to point out the dangers of celebrating female empowerment.
You can hear what they said in the video below.
\u201cFox anchors are reading A LOT into M&Ms new marketing scheme and its foreign policy implications \n\n'This is the kind of thing that makes China say 'oh good, keep focusing on giving people their own color of M&M's while we take over all the mineral deposits in the entire world''\u201d— Lis Power (@Lis Power) 1673288534
Host Harris Faulkner suggested the packaging is offensive to independent women everywhere:
"When you look at the package, the women are upside down and I understand 'flipped' but thank you very much, we stand on our own. We don't need to be shown on a package looking crazy upside down."
Guest host Martha MacCallum agreed and somehow managed to bring the United States-China relationship into the mix:
“If this is what you need for validation, an M&M in a color that you think is associated with feminism, then I’m worried about you."
“I think this is the kind of thing that makes China say, ‘Oh good, keep focusing on that, keep focusing on giving people their own color M&M’s while we take over all the mineral deposits in the entire world.”
The segment immediately prompted social media users to mock the hosts for pushing an absurd fantasy.
\u201cLegitimately who do they think is in charge of M&Ms\u201d— Keno \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Keno \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1673317511
\u201cWell I guess my parents are anti-M&M now \u00af\_(\u30c4)_/\u00af\u201d— JudyHensler24 (@JudyHensler24) 1673289144
\u201cSo much outrage, so little time\u201d— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1673288897
\u201cIt's amazing that @harrisfaulkner will never ever be smart enough to realize that she's the only one "focusing" on this, and thus if anybody's distracting from Chinese mineral takeovers, it's herself \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u201d— Keith Olbermann (@Keith Olbermann) 1673289178
\u201cHorrible filler of time.\u201d— Chalky Black (@Chalky Black) 1673289587
\u201cI used to think @HARRISFAULKNER was one of the \u201creputable\u201d ones on Fox, but she followed @DanaPerino off the deep end into Qanon craziness.\u201d— Jeff Alerman (@Jeff Alerman) 1673289914
\u201cAh yes. China has unlocked the secret. Different colored M&Ms equals to fall of the United States.\n\nHow does anyone take this network seriously?\u201d— Chairman Meow (@Chairman Meow) 1673289802
\u201cThe funniest thing is that they accuse people of \u201cfocusing\u201d on this during a segment called \u201cIn case you missed it.\u201d So who, exactly, is focusing on this?\u201d— Kermet Apio (parody) (@Kermet Apio (parody)) 1673293113
\u201cAgreed. How can you take this to China and mineral deposits? \ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2642\ufe0f How can anyone take this channel seriously?\u201d— Diobletoi (@Diobletoi) 1673303556
Fox News' coverage of the new M&M's comes as its hosts largely ignored the attempted right-wing coup in Brazil over the weekend when supporters of conservative Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Brazilian legislature on the false premise their recent presidential election was stolen.
Rolling Stoneconducted a review of Fox News transcripts and found "Fox News did not mention the riot for several hours, between 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.," choosing instead to focus on manufactured outrage in the hours and days that have followed.
