Store withdraws chocolate ducklings over racism complaint
(CNN) — UK grocery chain Waitrose has apologized after being accused of racism over the names of three chocolate ducklings.
The “Waitrose Trio of Chocolate Easter Ducklings” contains a white, milk and dark chocolate version, which were named “Fluffy,” “Crispy” and “Ugly” respectively.
A Twitter user questioned why Waitrose had chosen to call the darkest duckling “Ugly.”
“Overheard women saying ‘this is not right,’ I agree, doesn’t look good at all,” wrote Livia A. Aliberti on March 7.
Waitrose has since apologized in a short statement seen by CNN.
“We are very sorry for any upset caused by the name of this product, it was absolutely not our intention to cause any offence,” reads the statement.
“We removed the product from sale several weeks ago while we changed the labeling and our ducklings are now back on sale.”
One possible explanation for the naming is a reference to the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale “The Ugly Duckling.”
The story features an unfortunate young duckling who is bullied by all of those around him before turning into a swan.
Aliberti thanked Waitrose for changing the packaging in another tweet Tuesday.