Why Is Skittles' Pride Month Packaging Causing Such A Stir Online?
Although the promotional Skittles packaging meant to celebrate Pride and marginalized voices was announced in May, the brand has started gaining the attention of conservatives online, who have begun to boycott the product.
The company's creative collaboration with GLAAD, various LGBTQ+ community artists, and Audible didn't pop up overnight, unlike Bud Light's association with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which also brought controversy. After all, this Skittles promotion, featured on the brand's website, will be Mars, Inc.'s fourth annual partnership with GLAAD, a famous non-profit organization founded in 1985 with a mission to create "fair, accurate, and inclusive representation" for LGBTQ+ populations.
In a subsequent press release, Chief Marketing Office of Mars Wrigley North America, Gabrielle Wesley, was overjoyed with the brand's ongoing association with the non-profit. "The Skittles brand is proud to continue our four-year partnership with GLAAD and introduce new collaborations this year ... to help uplift and provide visibility to the LGBTQ+ community," Wesley explained before going into some details. "The Skittles brand is honored to have the opportunity to help amplify voices from the LGBTQ+ community through the power of storytelling, which will help to increase support, generate inclusion, and build community."
Moreover, This isn't a first for Mars. Aside from this current advocacy by the company, it has also made strides in gender equality through advertising and inclusivity in the past through earlier Pride collection promotions and partnerships.
Why now and what is being said online?
Mars, Inc., and Skittles have never avoided going against the grain. (After all, mustard-flavored Skittles exist.) Nonetheless, the concern with Skittle's current promotional packaging among conservatives seems to revolve around transgender rights, inclusivity, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
As demonstrated by the social media account Libs of TikTok on Twitter, right-wing frustrations with the brand stem from one particular artist's design. Bianca Xunise, an American artist, contributed a piece to the collaboration featuring children skateboarding off a ramp with phrases such as "Black trans lives matter" and "Joy is resistance" tagged on its side. While the image certainly has some rebellious charm associated with youth, it makes a statement. It also hasn't gone over too well with conservatives, despite (or more likely because of) its arguable intentions of spotlighting major social issues concerning stigma and disenfranchisement.
Not only has the confectionery brand been accused of going "completely woke," as the original post claimed, but others remarking on it have complained explicitly about the pro-Black Lives Matter and pro-LGBTQ+ phrases, complete with critical hashtags and comments.
Still, Twitter isn't the only place online that seems to be generating this response. The comments section of a post made by Skittles on Instagram reflects this, with users condemning the brand.