Skittles is now the latest company facing major public backlash for its “woke” advertising campaigns. The candy company, famous for its “Taste the Rainbow” campaign, recently went all-in on a line of pride-centric designs for its product packaging—and now consumers are threatening to respond with a Bud Light-style boycott.
To celebrate Pride Month in May of this year, Skittles announced a partnership with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), switching out its traditional rainbow packaging for illustrations promoting the LGBTQ community. “We’ve given up our rainbow so that the LGBTQ+ community can share theirs,” the company website reads. “This Pride Month, we’re amplifying stories within the LGBTQ+ community for all to discover. We begin by showcasing the designs of five talented artists on our SKITTLES Pride Packs, each with their own story to tell.”
On Twitter (aka X), the company further promised that it would “donate $1 for every Pride pack sold (up to $100,000) to GLAAD to back their ongoing efforts to work through media to support the LGBTQ+ community.”
We're proud to partner with @GLAAD to continue celebrating and amplifying the LGBTQ+ community.
Throughout May and June, we've partnered with LGBTQ+ artists to design and release five limited-edition SKITTLES packs that tell visual stories of Pride, and we'll donate $1 for every… pic.twitter.com/3oP43bldrh
— SKITTLES (@Skittles) May 3, 2023
This marks the fourth year of the annual Skittles Pride campaign—but according to some irate consumers, this year’s designs crossed a line.
One design in particular drew criticism for depicting a group of race- and gender-diverse kids skateboarding on a halfpipe inscribed with slogans like “Black Trans Lives Matter” and “Joy is Resistance.”
Skittles “is trying to turn your kids into BLM & LGBTQ+ activists. Their packaging also features a drag queen,” declared conservative journalist Chaya Raichik, aka Libs of TikTok. “Skittles have gone completely woke.”
.@Skittles is trying to turn your kids into BLM & LGBTQ+ activists. Their packaging also features a drag queen.
Skittles have gone completely woke. pic.twitter.com/jjlkc7uOaL
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 11, 2023
As the Pride Month packaging continues to hit shelves across the country, customers are beginning to call for an organized boycott against Skittles, as well as its owner, the Wrigley Company, and parent company Mars, Inc.
Many have compared the anti-Skittles effort to the campaign launched against Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch following the beer manufacturer’s partnership with transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney earlier this year. In the wake of the conservative boycott of the one-time bestselling beer, Anheuser-Busch lost billions of dollars in sales and was forced to lay off 2% of its overall workforce.
Other companies, including Target and Disney, were also met with backlash for pushing LGBTQ agendas, though none suffered losses as great as Bud Light’s.
Skittles and Mars, Inc have not yet addressed the online controversy—but if calls for a boycott continue, they may soon have no choice.
Add comment