• by Steve Ellwanger , March 31, 2022

Having returned the staple lime flavor to original Skittles packs last fall, the Mars Inc, brand is apologizing profusely for having ditched lime for green apple in 2013.

What Skittles calls a public “apology tour” is better described as a mea culpa on steroids.

The return of lime is being communicated through live streams on TikTok and Twitch, a billboard placement in Manhattan’s Times Square, and a long-winded “press conference” on YouTube starring actor Jeff Lewis.

The campaign was prompted by more than 130,000 negative social-media comments over the last nine years about the loss of lime Skittles, according to the company.

One of the more explicit complaints was this Twitter post by Slow Hand Scott: “I always forget skittles changed from lime to sour apple until that first little green bastard hits my taste buds.”

Lewis is best known for his roles in “The Guild” and “Hail, Caesar.” In the YouTube spot—which clocks in at 35:42—Lewis portrays Skittles’ “communications director” Michael Wheby.

Munching from a huge bowl of lime Skittles, he diligently responds to myriad social-media posts while issuing apologies for such things as “reasonless change,” “ceaseless anger” and “making you feel strong feelings.”

Asked whether a decline in demand for Skittles following the green apple debut prompted the return of lime, a company rep tells Marketing Daily, “As a private company, we can’t speak to sales numbers. But years of social media debate and petitioning from ours fans proved that the lime flavor actually reigns supreme.”

A “Lime Is Back” billboard went live this week in one of the busiest neighborhoods in Manhattan.

“Mars is thrilled to be able to use our iconic M&M'S Store in Times Square, which sits just under the digital billboard, to help share the message with fans that lime is back,” the Skittles rep says.

The “Lime Is Back” slogan also appeared last weekend on race car champion Kyle Busch’s #18 Toyota during the NASCAR Cup Series race in Austin, Texas.

Original Skittles packs containing five fruit flavors were launched in 1979.