TV Fans Will Probably Recognize The Voice Of The Brown M&M In This Super Bowl Commercial

You already know that M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand, but do you know who voices the Brown M&M? Well, you will get a friendly reminder during the big game. Turns out, the voice of the Brown M&M in the 2018 Super Bowl commercial is none other than Vanessa Williams, who made her debut in the 2012 Super Bowl commercial "Ms. Brown." Despite Williams not being the star of this 30-second spot — that would be Danny DeVito, FYI — she makes the most of the few lines she does have.

Ms. Brown is the outspoken, yet serious M&M spokescandy — her bio says her best attribute is "her big beautiful brain" — who doesn't have time for Red's shenanigans. (Her turn-off is the color red, by the way.) And that continues with this new ad "Human," which is M&Ms' first Super Bowl commercial since 2014, according to Forbes.

You first see the Red M&M — voiced by Billy West, who played Roger Klotz on Doug and Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy — walking down the street with Ms. Brown talking about how hard it is to be such a delicious milk chocolate candy. "I've had three people try to eat me today. Three," he says, only to find a lucky penny that turns him into a human — DeVito in a red M&Ms shirt, to be exact.

With his wish finally come true, DeVito's Red is running around asking people, including Todrick Hall, if they want to eat him, which, of course, they don't. In the midst of celebrating how lucky he is, DeVito ends up getting hit by a truck. But, let's be honest, that's not even the worst part. It's Ms. Brown's dressing down of him.

Red gets all the lines, but Williams' Ms. Brown gets to deliver a killer one-liner as he lays amongst a bodega's fruits and vegetables. Ms. Brown picks up that coin and tells him with a straight-face: "You dropped your lucky penny." And with Williams' swagger — hello, she was Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty, remember? — that's got to really hurt.

In fact, the straight-talking, glasses-wearing Ms. Brown — only the second female M&M after Green, voiced by Cree Summer, who debuted in 1997 and is actually peanut butter, not milk chocolate — was inspired by her Ugly Betty character. Williams told Huffington Post Canada in 2012 that taking the voiceover role was an easy decision. "When I saw the breakdown, they described her as someone who was like Wilhelmina," Williams explained. "I said ‘Huh, well I kind of created that character, so I guess it’s perfect!’ So I signed on."

While it was a no-brainer decision for Williams, she said her character is basically "the brains behind it all." She says that Ms. Brown "graduated from an Ivy League school and majored in business." If you think Red is the leader, Williams says, you have another thing coming. "[Red] was the one who shared Ms. Brown’s Super Bowl commercial, and he’s always willing to make a fool of himself," Williams explained. "He thinks he’s the leader, but Ms. Brown runs it all. They all get along, but they know that Ms. Brown is the boss."

You can see this in her first commercial "Just My Shell," in which she talks about meeting a chocolate-addicted Prime Minister before putting a laughing party-goer in his place. See, he thinks Ms. Brown is naked, so she lets him know, "My shell is brown, it just looks like my chocolate is showing. Only a fool would show up naked." No surprise, that fool is the Red M&M.

While lines like that show just what a leader Ms. Brown is, it's Williams' delivery that really sells it. "I think it’s a matter of tone and a matter of portraying someone who’s capable and in charge," she told HuffPo. "That’s how I approached it, and that’s why it works."

M&Ms is hoping Williams once again will work her magic on Super Bowl Sunday and leave people wanting to snack on every color in their chocolatey rainbow.