Nestle has officially revealed the new names for its Allen’s range of lollies, and already people online are having an absolute dummy-spit.
Early next year, Red Skins will officially become Red Ripper, and Chicos will become Cheekies. The change in name was made after Nestle revealed the racially derogatory names of old were no longer in line with the company’s values.
“These names have overtones which are out of step with Nestle’s values, which are rooted in respect,” said the company in a statement in June.
The changes will be a step forward for the company in making sure “nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues”.
In case you weren’t aware, the term ‘red skin’ is seen as a derogatory term towards Native American people, while ‘chico’ is a Spanish word for ‘boy’ or ‘guys’.
Despite the brand new names being a great effort from the brand to completely erase racism from its products, already people are hopping online to voice their discontent.
“Fuck off, what kind of name is that?” one user on Twitter wrote.
“Hey mate got a red ripper today in your lunchbox?” Fuck off what kind of name is that pic.twitter.com/YWxvNiM2Kk
— MELIH (@melihs11) November 16, 2020
honestly red rippers isnt that bad. cheekies sounds absolutely stupid though.
— DimenitalArcher (@DimenitalArcher) November 16, 2020
Others, however, have pointed out how good the change is, considering the fact there are groups of people who have been marginalised by the names for quite some time.
https://twitter.com/KellieEarl/status/1328184582538096643?s=20
And just like me, some people immediately felt like Red Ripper was an accurate name, because of how the lolly gets stuck to your teeth and also the packaging, thus the action of ripping being part and parcel with chowing down on one of these bad boys.
Considering I chipped a tooth in 6th grade on them, red ripper is indeed appropriate! Thanks for listening Allen’s Lollies @GongGasGirl
Nestle renames Allen’s Lollies brands Red Skins and Chicos to Red Ripper and Cheekies to avoid marginalising people https://t.co/JUhQkNLTzB— Dr Divya Sharma #communication is key (@djsPerth) November 16, 2020
And then… uhhh… there were the people who pointed out that ‘Red Ripper’ is in fact the nickname of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo who murdered at least 52 women during his life.
What makes things worse is that a simple google search of the words ‘Red Ripper’ produces immediate flags that this is the nickname of a murderer, so I have multiple questions for the team at Nestle.
https://twitter.com/madisonbergin/status/1328180574784163842?s=20
you’re right eeep pic.twitter.com/xe6xqO7Dg4
— TheVegabus / Tea (@TheVegaBus) November 16, 2020
Well, that’s definitely a yikes from me.
Ultimately, however, the names are a step in the right direction. The lolly is exactly the same, but the names are now inclusive. It’s the ultimate win-win.
