Society

Das Kinderschokoladen Dilemma

German far right group Pegida row over non-white photos on Kinder bars

June 13th, 2016
Jessica Sama, News from Berlin
20160613_Kinderschokolade.jpg

Supporters of Germany’s anti-immigration movement "Pegida" have expressed their outrage when the blue-eyed blond boy on the packaging of Kinder chocolate bar has being replaced by children of African and Middle Eastern descent. The "Pegida" movement was founded in Dresden in October 2014 and has since been organizing several demonstrations in Germany against what it considers the Islamisation of the Western world.

Their attention now is on the Italian confectionery group Ferrero, which has momentarily changed the pictures on its ‘Kinder Schokolade’ to celebrate the Euro Cup 2016. The new packaging shows childhood pictures of German players such as Jerome Boateng, son of a Ghanaian immigrant, and Ilkay Gundogan, whose parents were born in Turkey. It also includes white players such as Mario Goetze and Christoph Kramer.

The group has constantly criticized the confectioner's decision to print images of non-white footballers on its chocolate bars instead of the usual picture of a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy on social networks. One person wrote: “Poor Germany... if you think diversity and migration are part of it. Close the borders and no exports, no migration! Then you'll get unemployment and local league.” Members of the far-right group believed that the wrappers were making a stand in favour of migration, and more commenters suggested boycotting the chocolate bars in their outrage. 

At the beginning, Pegida supporters seemed unaware that the pictures were childhood photographs of players on their own national football team. After being told the photos were childhood photos of Germany's footballers being used in Euro-2016-linked marketing, they admitted they had "dived into a wasps' nest".

However, many of Pegida’s members continued to feel discomfited by non-white players representing Germany at football internationals, claiming that ‘"die Mannschaft” has nothing national anymore except the name.

Ferrero company has commented on the story saying that it would “distance itself from any form of xenophobia or discrimination", adding: “We do not accept or tolerate these in our Facebook communities either.”

References:

News from Berlin