“I think M&M’s stumbled into a more political debate than they had hoped to,” said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Then earlier this month the company celebrated Women’s Day by flipping the Ms in its logo upside down to look like Ws — a typographical trick that McDonald’s utilized five years ago.

“What M&M’S has tried to do over the past few years is to be very inclusive, and to ensure that these characters represent in a positive way,” said Calkins, the Northwestern professor.

The deal with Rudolph has been “in the works for a while,” said Gabrielle Wesley, chief marketing officer for Mars Wrigley North America, in a statement this week.

But there’s a risk to pulling back, noted Geraldo Matos, associate professor of marketing at Roger Williams University.

Giving the characters a break seems like a good strategy to Lauren Labrecque, associate professor of marketing at the University of Rhode Island.