– Krispy Kreme issued an apology for its new campaign featuring an offensive racial slur.
– The campaign, created by creative agency Abel in collaboration with Limehouse Production, aimed to promote Krispy Kreme doughnuts for major celebrations.
– It included four spots where doughnuts replaced the letter “o” in words like “footy,” “movie,” and “hooray,” but one spot briefly spelled “c–ngrats” using the offensive slur.
– The video featuring the offensive content is no longer available on YouTube.
– The campaign was distributed across various digital platforms, out-of-home advertising, and in-store media.
– Krispy Kreme ANZ Marketing Director Olivia Sutherland issued an apology, stating they never intended to offend anyone and had removed all congratulations-related ads from the campaign.
– Australia’s advertising watchdog, Ad Standards, confirmed it had not received complaints but would investigate if any were submitted.
– Anti-racism campaigner Stephen Hagan criticized the campaign, expressing disappointment that such a slur was included in a promotional campaign.
– Hagan was involved in the campaign to rename the Coon cheese brand to “Cheer” in 2021 due to concerns about racism.
– Krispy Kreme’s campaign aimed to encourage Australians to pick up a box of doughnuts for major celebrations and was created in collaboration with Abel and Limehouse Production.
– Abel co-founder and creative director Simon Fowler expressed enthusiasm for working on the campaign and highlighting the joy of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in social gatherings.
Original Source: Krispy Kreme apologizes for accidentally showing slur in new ad campaign (nypost.com)
Now, let’s look at the origin of the word “coon”:
coon (n.)
coon | Etymology, origin and meaning of coon by etymonline
popular abbreviation of raccoon, 1742, American English. It was the nickname of Whig Party members in U.S. c. 1848-60, as the raccoon was the party’s symbol, and it also had associations with frontiersmen (who stereotypically wore raccoon-skin caps), which probably ultimately was the source of the Whig Party sense (the party’s 1840 campaign was built on a false image of wealthy William Henry Harrison as a rustic frontiersman).
The now-insulting U.S. meaning “black person” was in use by 1837, said to be from barracoon (by 1837), from Portuguese barraca “slave depot, pen or rough enclosure for black slaves in transit in West Africa, Brazil, Cuba.” If so, no doubt this was boosted by the enormously popular blackface minstrel act Zip Coon (George Washington Dixon) which debuted in New York City in 1834. But it is perhaps older (one of the lead characters in the 1767 colonial comic opera “The Disappointment” is a black man named Raccoon).
Also, in Western U.S., “a person” generally, especially a sly, knowing person (1832). Coon’s age is 1843, American English, probably an alteration of British a crow’s age. (Crows are famously long-lived. Compare Greek tri-koronos “long-lived,” literally “having three times the age of a crow.” But raccoons are not.) Gone coon (1839) was used of a person who is in a very bad way or a hopeless condition.
All I’m saying here is that too many people feign offense. If the word is used in a malicious manner, then yes, be offended because that’s the way it was intended. In this instance, however, I see no need for an apology because “coongrats” should not be offensive to anyone. It is not a slur, racial or otherwise.
Donovan was born and raised in the deep south of South Central Georgia, roughly two hours from the Georgia-Florida line. His father was a guitar player, farmer, and eventually blue color worker for GM. His mother suffered from Scleroderma starting a few years after he was born, so she became a home maker. Growing up as an only child, Donovan’s interest included music (though he really never learned to play anything) and anything dealing with technology, but specifically computers.
He has spent his entire life involved with computer technology either as a hobby or as a career. In his middle to late teens, he ran a BBS (electronic bulletin board system – the precursor to the modern day Internet). He learned about networking computer systems, building computers, and communication technologies as part of his career.
Later in life, he fulfilled his dream of running his own ISP (Internet Service Provider) when he was hired first as the Network Manager and eventually the General Manager of the Telecommunications Department for the City of Tifton, known as CityNet.
Today he runs his own IT business and has been podcasting in some form or fashion since 2011.