Oh, man.
A former MP in Britain is accusing Cocoa Puffs of being racist. She wants to know why the chocolate-flavored breakfast cereal is promoted with a monkey while its white-colored stablemate Rice Krispies has three fair-skinned characters splashed on its box.
The complaint came from Labour politician Fiona Onasanya. She wrote to Kellogg’s demanding answers and shared her claims on social media. She says there is no difference between the two cereal products other than flavor and color.
In response to the claims, Kellogg’s said it stands in support of the black community and conceded it was important discussions are raised to improve racial equality.
They said, “The monkey mascot that appears on both white and milk chocolate Coco Pops, was created in the 1980s to highlight the playful personality of the brand.” Several responses to the tweet addressed the accusation. “The monkey is called Coco,” one said. “Remove the monkey and they are just called pops.”
And another: “The cacao tree from which cocoa beans and hence cocoa powder is derived is native to the Amazon Basin where there are monkeys.” You can see more about the discussion here.
