Cereal is the staple go-to breakfast for thousands of people across the world. It promises a healthy, hearty start of the day. But, what happens when you sit for that first serving in the morning only to notice with your dose of goodness lies an undertone of racism?
Saladin Ahmed, a U.S.-based novelist of Lebanese and Egyptian descent, has called out Kellogg's for using a "brown corn pop" - the only brown corn pop (cereal piece) on the entire box illustration - to depict a janitor.
The graphic shows a number of yellow cartoon cereal pieces performing different activities, with one "brown" piece cleaning the floor, suggesting darker skinned people are less accomplished than lighter skinned counterparts.
Ahmed called out the food manufacturing giant for its racist drawing in a series of tweets posted earlier this week - which ultimately went viral, garnering over 5,000 re-tweets at the time of writing.
"Why is literally the only brown corn pop on the whole cereal box the janitor? This is teaching kids racism"
Ahmed continued explaining why it's a big deal, despite the fact that it's a tiny observation
Many people did not understand what the issue was ...
And accused Ahmed of being "oversensitive" until they realized ...
Many reminded the brand that "brown people" are just as diverse
Kellogg's has since responded
Following Ahmed's series of tweets, Kellogg's responded, explaining that they did not mean to offend anyone and further noted that they are currently updating the artwork on the Corn Pops cereal box.
Kellogg's Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs issued a statement saying:
"Kellogg Company has respect for all people, and our commitment to diversity and inclusion has long been a top priority. We take feedback very seriously, and it was never our intention to offend anyone. We apologize sincerely," the VP said.