June is Pride Month. It is an entire month to celebrate, and support the LBGTQ community. There is an packed calendar of events including marches, parades, and celebrity appearances taking place across the country. Many people, and organizations have taken to social media, and embarked on several campaigns to express the importance of supporting the LBGQT community. The famous candy company Skittles launched a interesting campaign.
Skittles removes their rainbow
In an effort to show their support Skittles, famous for its slogan "taste the rainbow," released a special edition of its delicious candy. In the special edition packages include only white Skittles inside, rather than the colorful array it usually contains.
The company was quoted saying, "During Pride, only one rainbow matters. So we've given up ours to show support." Sounds great right? But people have found a serious flaw in this limited edition candy.
Why all white?
The question was, why would Skittles, in order to celebrate equality, only include white skittles, rather than perhaps white and black? People posted on their thoughts on social media, many suggesting that this attempt of celebration had some seriously racist undertones.
People also wondered, just how effective was it, in showing support, to take away the actual symbol of the LBGTQ community?
Although Skittles is under some major scrutiny for their Pride campaign, the company is still donating a portion of the proceeds to various LBGQT charities. The Skittles debate may continue, but at least those charities are receiving some well-deserved funding. And don't worry, although no longer rainbow, the candy still has that fruity flavor!