In a recently uploaded viral video, TikToker Tyma Chantee (@tymachantee) highlighted a concerning pattern regarding the bakery franchise’s social media presence.
“Rumor has it, Crumbl doesn’t repost many of the Black content creators that support them,” Tyma states at the start of the video.
Crumbl is known for its cookies, which feature flavors that change weekly. In recent years, the franchise gained global popularity thanks to content creators sharing taste tests on TikTok.
Many of these creators are Black, including TikTokers Stefan Johnson (@s_johnson_voiceovers) and Jamore.love (@jamore.love), who have garnered hundreds of thousands of views with their Crumbl taste-test videos.
However, Tyma, who has 30,000 followers on TikTok, alleges that these Black content creators are not being reposted by the brand.
“Let’s take a look at their reposts, and see if this is true,” she questions, pulling up Crumbl’s TikTok to review the recently reposted videos.
As she scrolls through the videos, she comments, “I’ve yet to see one of me. Not yet. Not yet,” noting the absence of Black creators.
After scrolling through several videos, she pauses on one man, saying, “Oh, it’s questionable. He might be mixed. It’s questionable,” before continuing her scroll.
“OK, let’s keep scrolling,” she instructs, before finally stumbling upon another Black creator who was reposted. “Oh, found one. This was back in May. OK, where else? Where else? Another one. This was back in April,” she shares.
Out of the many creators she reviews, only a handful are Black.
“Crumbl, I think you need to get a little better with the diversity here. There are a lot of Black content creators that support you. Get with it,” she concludes.
The video has received 182,000 views and thousands of comments, with many viewers sharing their thoughts on Tyma’s observations.
@tymachantee Whats going on? @Crumbl Cookies #fy #crumblcookies #crumblecookiesreposts ♬ original sound – Tyma Chats•Tyma Chantee
Viewers reacted to Tyma Chantee’s observations
“I don’t eat that crap anyway I’ll go to the dollar store and get they cookies a nd be happy then spend on y’all,” one viewer shared.
Another added, “Never had a Crumbl cookie in my life. Won’t start now.”
Others commented on where they will be taking their business instead
“Them nasty-ass, no-flavor-ass cookies—Insomnia Cookies are better anyway,” one viewer commented.
A viewer with a similar perspective remarked, “Honestly, Crumbl is nasty lol. They have a few good cookies, but most are so sugary that they make me feel sick. After I tried Insomnia, I never went back.”
Some viewers noted that Crumbl isn’t the first business to exhibit such behavior.
“I’ve noticed a lot of companies and small businesses do this. I started paying attention when a nail salon I visited had a ton of pictures online but only showed melanated hands every 100 pics, if that,” one commenter wrote.
A lack of diversity in social media marketing
According to Oberlo, “a large majority of TikTokers are between the ages of 18 to 34.” The majority of that same age demographic, according to a 2020 study by Statista, want to see more racial diversity in marketing and advertisements. One of the reasons there may be a lack of diversity in social media marketing is that that workforce is predominately made up of Millennial white women, per Sprout Social.
“While it’s not realistic to try and reach everyone on social, there will be individuals who don’t identify the same way you do in your target audience…When the majority of social media content is crafted by a homogenous group, there’s a risk of alienating and misrepresenting perspectives—which only perpetuates a cycle of exclusion and falsely paints stereotypes as true,” Greg Rokisky, social media strategist at Sprout Social, told the company.
The Daily Dot reached out to Crumbl and Tyma Chantee via email.
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