Skittles has ditched its famous rainbow for Pride Month and brought out limited edition packs of white sweets.
The idea behind the special “rainbowless” packs – which are white with a black S and come in black and white packaging – is to support the annual event by giving up their colours so the focus falls on the rainbow flag associated with the LGBT community.
The reaction to the campaign has been varied, to say the least.
Some people have been sharing their support for the message.
Really impressed with the white skittles for pride, well done ???? bring on Saturday ???? pic.twitter.com/UVNdoK1Do6
— Shawnie Harper (@Shawnieharper) June 15, 2017
Well done @Skittles – plain white packaging to give a full rainbow focus to #Pride ??#pride2017 pic.twitter.com/s1lD5TrRIW
— ?Bennie Denton? (@benniedenton) June 15, 2017
There are others, though, who have taken issue with the products being white and have accused the company of racism.
It is "that serious". The normalization of whiteness is a problem because we live in a society where whiteness is considered the standard.
— phillip (@TrillestPhil) May 3, 2017
"All the lentils are white in celebration of Pride." Sooooooo to celebrate equality they make white skittles…. how is that not racist?
— Chloe Cowan (@cowan_chloe) April 2, 2017
Others have since jumped to the company’s defence.
Once ppl see 'white' Skittles merely as 'absent of color' skittles (in honor of #LGBTPrideMonth) there's no drama to be had. ?? #PrideMonth pic.twitter.com/MGUWoP7n7r
— manuel christoffel (@manuel_c) June 15, 2017
Honestly I really like the idea of the white skittles. Everyone is making it about race and it's not???? pic.twitter.com/rMyYkgZlhZ
— Nick?? (@Luvnick5ever) June 15, 2017
In a statement, Wrigley said: “The rainbow flag is the symbol of Pride but the rainbow is also synonymous with Skittles.“So, to show our support Skittles has again given up its rainbow colours in order for Pride’s rainbow to take centre stage.“Happiness, fun and inclusion are at the heart of who we are. We’re inspired by the positive response from our Associates and our consumers.“Any suggestion that this support for Pride is in any way racist is clearly wrong.”
