Kellogg's Under Fire for Scene on Back of Corn Pops Box
10/26/2017 03:34 pm EDT
Kellogg's has redesigned its Corn Pops cereal box after it was accused of "teaching racism" through an interactive visual on the back of its packaging.
The snack and cereal maker said on Twitter Wednesday that it will replace the the scene on the back of the Corn Pops box, which shows cartoon characters shaped like corn kernels having fun in a shopping mall.
All the corn pops are shown having fun — skateboarding down the escalator, swinging on banners, playing in a fountain — while the only brown corn pop is seen wearing a janitor's outfit, cleaning the floors.
Writer Saladin Ahmed — who is developing Marvel Comics' Black Bolt series — shared the image on Twitter after discovering the issue.
"Why is literally the only brown corn pop on the whole cereal box the janitor? This is teaching kids racism," he wrote.
His tweet to Kellogg's has been retweeted more than 3,000 times and has nearly 9,000 favorites.
"Yes it's a tiny thing, but when you see your kid staring at this over breakfast and realize millions of other kids are doing the same…" he continued in another tweet.
Up Next: McDonald's Changes Its Name, Causes Mass Confusion
The snack company responded five hours later to Ahmed's criticism by apologizing and offering up its solution.
"Kellogg is committed to diversity and inclusion. We did not intend to offend — we apologize. The artwork is updated & will be in stores soon," the company responded.
Ahmed thanked the Corn Pops maker for its "rapid response" and wrote, "Today in tiny victories."
"Today I used the computer in my pocket to get a cereal company to make their boxes less racist what even is the 21st century."
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