The Great M&M Depression Of The 1980s
The '80s were a real low point for the M&M.
These are the M&M's we know and love:

en.wikipedia.org
Delightfully chromatic pieces of chocolate joy.
But did you know that in the 1980s, M&M's had a different look?

They were brown...

...yellow...

...green...

...orange...

and tan (?!).

BUT THAT'S IT. Which means that M&M's looked something like THIS* in the 1980s:

dezinfo.net
*Minus the reds, if you can even imagine a more dreary combination of candy-coated sadness.
Thankfully, someone realized that spiraling into a Thanksgiving-hued vortex of despair isn't what you want when you tear open a bag of M&M's.


So they nixed the tans, reintroduced the reds, and added blue.
And everything was right with the world.

Never change, M&M's!
But HOLD UP. Why would they ever discontinue purple?

They should FOR DEFINITELY bring these babies back!

candywarehouse.com
(But they can keep the tans...yeeck).