A&W Root Beer Trolls M&M’s After Woke Fail, Pretends to Add Pants to ‘Polarizing’ Bear Mascot

A&W Root Beer pulled off a believable troll on Tuesday after making it seem as if it would stand as the latest brand to succumb to societal pressures, announcing its intention to add pants to its cartoon mascot of a bear due to the “polarizing” nature of his natural state.

A&W Restaurants made the initial announcement on social media Tuesday, citing the mascot’s lack of pants as a “polarizing” topic. 

“America, let’s talk,” the statement began, noting that the mascot, Rooty, has served as the brand’s mascot for the last 60 years. Notably, the first line is exactly the same as the January 23 statement released by M&M’s, and it continues the theme of spoofing the other brand’s woke statement.

“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 continued, announcing that Rooty would wear jeans moving forward. 

“Therefore, we have decided that Rooty will wear jeans going forward. Not to worry though: he will remain our official spokesbear,” the company continued, unleashing a few bear-related puns.

“We are confident Rooty will continue to champion good food & good times for many years to come … now in denim,” it added. The announcement included a new depiction of Rooty, wearing the classic orange sweater, as well as jeans.

After generating headlines over the bizarre move, which some viewed as yet another absurd example of companies attempting to please the woke mob, the A&W Restaurants added, “Is now a good time to mention this is a joke?”:

Is now a good time to mention this is a joke? 😅

— A&W Restaurants (@awrestaurants) January 25, 2023

“Thank you! I could easily believe that there are people concerned about a bear not wearing pants,” one Twitter user commented following the company suggesting it was a joke the whole time.

“Well done! You got me,” another remarked.

“This was the absolute best way to out the real sensitive folks,” another added.

“Unfortunately, with the hyper polarization in society right now, mixed with clown world, jokes can be interpreted as reality,” one user said.

A&W’s troll follows the controversy over the new M&M’s “spokescandies.” Mars, the confectionary company that makes M&M’s, admitted it wanted them to be more “inclusive” and made subtle woke changes to the characters, including taking away the green female M&M’s sexy stilettos and introducing a new female character, Purple. This appeared to serve as “another bid for inclusivity as purple is frequently associated with the LGBTQ movement,” as Breitbart News noted.

Following the backlash, Mars announced actress Maya Rudolph as the new celerity face of the brand in a statement, which A&W spoofed.

“In the last year, we’ve made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. We weren’t sure if anyone would even notice. And we definitely didn’t think it would break the internet. But now we get it– even a candy’s shoes can be polarizing,” the statement read, opening the door for A&W’s troll:

A message from M&M'S. pic.twitter.com/EMucEBTd9o

— M&M'S (@mmschocolate) January 23, 2023

A recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that just nine percent believe it is important for companies to focus on “promoting causes like diversity and environmentalism.”