British supermarket chain Waitrose is in hot water after branding chocolate Easter ducks in a manner many found racist.
The collection of three featured a milk chocolate duck named “Crispy,” a white chocolate (or yellow one, really) called “Fluffy,” and a dark chocolate one named, uh, “Ugly.”
A Twitter user shared her concern in March, after seeing the ducks for sale and overhearing other customers complaining.
https://twitter.com/livia_aliberti/status/1103692238272499714
The names of the ducks are said to have been inspired by Danish author Hans Christian Anderson’s children’s story The Ugly Duckling. However, in 2019, that connection will likely fly over customers’ heads as they shop for Easter candy. Also, the “ugly duckling” has traditionally been described as gray in color before realizing she was a beautiful swan, not dark brown.
Many did not understand how this mistake could have happened.
I must say I’m pretty disgusted. It’s 2019 Waitrose. 2019. Doing this to ducks, ugly or not is not OK on any level. What message is it sending? Honestly, £8. pic.twitter.com/C0OzfPJDds
— T O M – P A I S L E Y (@Tompaisley) April 9, 2019
Really Waitrose ? Really ? In 2019 ? Or this now a new way to gain publicity by making a mistake and apologising https://t.co/wnaoWfvO74
— Phizzical (@phizzical) April 9, 2019
Waitrose has heard the feedback and removed the ducks from its aisles a few weeks ago. The chain also apologized in a statement emailed to the Daily Dot.
“We are very sorry for any upset caused by the name of this product, it was absolutely not our intention to cause any offence,” Waitrose said. “We removed the product from sale several weeks ago while we changed the labelling and our ducklings are now back on sale.”
Meanwhile, Twitter user Livia A. Aliberti, who first called out the supermarket chain, has faced a flurry of backlash. Beyond the usual comments shitting on “political correctness,” some said her complaint was making light of other, more complex issues of racism.
I understand what you were trying to do, but by making such a big deal from a chocolate duck that is based on a story, you make racism for me and other pocs a lot worse. If you want to fight real racism, please start with people, not innocent chocolate ducks
— MiSH (@MiSHsWilli) April 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/themogoat/status/1115663477920673794
https://twitter.com/edwin_afc/status/1115718255166017538
https://twitter.com/gbruce9783/status/1115671626090254336
If that’s all you have to be concerned about well done you! 99.9% of the world have real issue problems rather than complain about a chocolate duck! #getalife @waitrose you should not pander to these people – you create bigger issues when you do!!!! They are what is wrong today.
— OF Events (@oflahertyevents) April 9, 2019
While it may appear trivial to some, perhaps that is both the point and the problem: Racism is present even in the simplest, everyday things and that infiltrates into much bigger, more obvious, possibly violent things. None of it needs to be normalized.
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