Kellogg’s Apologizes for ‘Racist’ Cereal Box

Kellogg’s has apologized for what some are calling a racist cereal box cartoon. Twitter user Saladin Ahmed tweeted out a picture of the box, which depicts a scene with Corn Pops “people”. All of the Corn Pops people are the signature yellow color associated with the cereal, save for one.

Near the bottom of the racist cereal box, there’s one Corn Pop that appears to have darker “skin” than the other Corn Pops. The darker Corn Pop is dressed as a janitor and is cleaning the floors.

racist cereal box
Image: Twitter/@saladinahmed

Saladin Ahmed, a novelist, noticed the disparity and tweeted out a picture of the box. In his tweet, he tagged the official Kellogg’s account.

https://twitter.com/saladinahmed/status/922840667277135872

Kellogg’s, to their credit, was very quick to respond. They apologized and said the artwork has been updated and will be in stores soon.

It’s refreshing to see a brand respond to criticism quickly and efficiently! We’ve all seen brands bury themselves with poor responses or qualified apologies. Some people who saw the original tweet agreed that the box was problematic.

https://twitter.com/IdFollowMe/status/923361374209703936

However, many people disagreed with Ahmed’s depiction of the racist cereal box.

https://twitter.com/JenFL912/status/923217155503591424

True, it is just a box of cereal. But a lot of kids will see that, and possibly internalize the subtle message. In any event, making a small change to a cereal box in an effort to be more inclusive is a nice move on Kellogg’s part.

Kellogg’s willingness to listen and make changes shows, at the very least, that they understand how the cartoon could be perceived as racist. Not everyone is going to agree, obviously. However, it’s a small change that hurts literally no one, and rights a perceived wrong. Kudos to Kellogg’s for being a part of the solution, and for being willing to do the work.

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(Image: Kellogg’s)

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