MCLEAN, VA—Mars President and CEO, Grant F. Reid, announced Monday that the company will be changing the name of its Snickers Brand to Snackfrican Americans to steer clear of racially charged language or sounds. The news comes as other national and international corporations seek to distance themselves from the insensitive advertising campaigns and names of the past.
“It used to be that a fair-skinned male, such as I, could say whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted,” Reid said, “but now, everyone has to be careful how he or she pronounces the names of certain foods or products to avoid sounding bigoted or intolerant. Heck, the marketing team had to pull one of our Super Bowl commercials a few years back because it sounded like one of the actors was using a racial slur rather than talking about our candy bar. The name change to Snackfrican Americans should sidestep that issue in the future, being a more politically correct term for that particular candy bar of darker complexion.”
Mars, Inc. has likewise had to change the name of its popular Twix offering to Twexicans following uproar over advertising south of the border. Sales have rebounded in the current quarter subsequent to the name change. Mars is hardly the first company forced to make such changes, however. Last year, Nabisco issued a voluntary recall on many of its products that included the tactless word, “crackers,” on the packaging; new boxes and containers will replace the word with the more befitting or appropriate “Caucasians.” The hardest hit of all the companies was probably Heinz, officially The H.J. Heinz Company, some of whose popular products for cooking and cleaning include the offending word, “vinegar.” The company had changed the name tentatively to vinegro but that was met with similar indignation by the public in most markets.
The rapid flux of name changes seems to have no end in sight as many companies implement preventative or preemptive measures. Yum Brands announced last month a gradual change of its pizza brand from Pizza Hut to Pizza Woman of the Night.