These Cookies Are Woke
Are you the type of person or family that enjoys the holidays by baking some delicious gingerbread cookies? Despite long being called a ‘gingerbread man,’ one grocery store is looking to gender-neutralize the holiday biscuit.
U.K. supermarket Co-op announced a competition to name its latest sweet tread: a gingerbread person set for release in stores later this year. The brand told Newsweek it wanted to make cookies that appealed to all its customers.
“Our Food team is adding the final touches to a new Co-op gingerbread person, but they’ve yet to come up with a name,” the company wrote in a statement announcing the launch. “They’d like members to join in and suggest a fitting name for our new little biscuity friend.”
However, the news prompted mixed responses on social media, with many users criticizing the brand for appealing to “snowflakes.” Some were positive and supportive of the idea, but others were unsure and even complained that the cookies should not be a symbol of anything gender related.
“It’s a biscuit! Not a symbol of gender equality/inequality/neutrality,” user Jordan Tanner commented on a tweet from “The Mirror.” “If this gender-neutral bisexual biscuit can solve the problem of gender equality, maybe it should also be placed in charge of the Brexit deal.”
In response to the mixed reactions, a Co-op spokesperson told Newsweek, saying “Inclusion and diversity lie at the heart of Co-op’s values and we’re looking to create a character which can be used to celebrate different occasions through the year and will appeal to all our customers. We’ve got some great ideas for what the new characters might look like and we’re pleased our first one is already famous.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
