‘F***ing mad’: ‘Racist’ chocolate duckling causes a stir on social media
The offending little bird was part of an £8 ($10) trio of Easter treats, with a milk chocolate duckling called “crispy” and a white one named “fluffy.”
Absolute madness and political correctness gone absurd 🤬🤬🤬 @waitrosehttps://t.co/uVgNb0DkBV
— Benovski80 (@BfFowler) April 9, 2019
According to the supermarket, a “small number” of customers took offence to the dark duckling being described as “ugly,” with some saying that it was racist.
The removal of the product has led to outrage on social media. One Twitter user claimed “the world has gone f***ing mad.” Another insisted that it was not racist, alluding to the famous fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling,” arguing that duckling in that story “grows up to be the most beautiful of them all.”
Seriously? The world is going PC quackers! #racistchocolatehttps://t.co/RhO32FXRBM
— Juan Guerrero (@nodding_donkey) April 8, 2019
The world has gone f@&king mad!!!! How the hell is this #racist! Complete madness!!!! Waitrose pulls chocolate ducklings from sale after complaints of racism' | via @telegraphhttps://t.co/VqIeuMlac8
— live the wilderness (@live_wilderness) April 8, 2019
I'm totally against racism but this is NOT racist esp. as in the orig story the Ugly duckling grows up to be the most beautiful of them all! The racists are not Waitrose or those using the trad labels of white, milk & dark choc, but those looking for racism where there isn't any.
— David Meacock (@A40David) April 9, 2019
Waitrose pulls chocolate ducklings from sale after complaints of racism !!!Nothing racist there the world has gone mad https://t.co/fsz129PpO5
— victor meldrew (@victormeldrew18) April 9, 2019
However, others accused Waitrose of “insidious casual racism” and that they should of done their homework on the story of the Ugly Duckling, claiming it’s grey and not dark brown.
Shame on @waitrose for questionable marketing practises and reinforcing the “ugly black duckling” narrative. INSIDIOUS casual racism that vilifies dark hues #shame#Waitrose#racism. An exposè a lack of diversity among your decision making staff. Stuck in the 60s! @hopenothatepic.twitter.com/u17S5i8MeN
— Stefania Ranieri (@KetoStef) April 9, 2019
Waitrose should of done its homework right! The ugly duckling is NOT dark brown it’s GREY! Again advertisers / companies need to be more politically correct otherwise they will have a negative backlash! pic.twitter.com/LFrz8Vz0gr
— Anna (@BartolomeuAnna) April 9, 2019
Waitrose issued a statement insisting that they were sorry for “any upset caused” and it was not their “intention to cause any offence.” The product was removed from sale a few weeks ago and the labelling changed, adding “our ducklings are now back on sale."
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.
Dear readers and commenters,
We have implemented a new engine for our comment section. We hope the transition goes smoothly for all of you. Unfortunately, the comments made before the change have been lost due to a technical problem. We are working on restoring them, and hoping to see you fill up the comment section with new ones. You should still be able to log in to comment using your social-media profiles, but if you signed up under an RT profile before, you are invited to create a new profile with the new commenting system.
Sorry for the inconvenience, and looking forward to your future comments,
RT Team.