Nestle has announced its intention to change the names of the popular lollies Red Skins and Chicos. According to a statement, the company believes these names “have overtones which are out of step with Nestle’s values, which are rooted in respect.”
Look, before anyone’s able to get up in arms about how BLM protestors are the enemies of fun, no one’s holding up placards asking Nestle to rebrand its products. Likewise, no one was campaigning for the removal of an episode of Fawlty Towers or petitioning the English Rugby Football Union to review the use of the slavery song ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.
But these sorts of decisions are most certainly welcome, even if the motivations are glaringly mercenary, as in the case of Nestle. For anyone unsure about why the name changes are necessary, redskin is a common derogative term for someone of Native American origin, while chico is used as a slur against people of Latin-American descent.
“This decision acknowledges the need to ensure that nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues,” said Nestle’s statement.
The company is yet to unveil new names for the products, so it’ll be a few more months until the names Red Skins and Chicos are removed from supermarket and corner store shelves. The two products are only sold in Australia and New Zealand, and the company’s representative claimed not to know the background of their racist names.
“This is just part of looking at where we want to be as a company and making sure we don’t do and say things that marginalise people,” they said.
Red Skins and Chicos are produced for Nestle by Allen’s, who released this statement: “At Allen’s we are about creating smiles. Today we announced that we will change the name of Red Skins and Chicos lollies.
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“This decision acknowledges the need to keep creating smiles, ensuring that nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues, or is out of step with our values.”
Check out Chicos TV ad from 1987:
