The Trader Joe’s grocery store chain has found itself in hot water this week for its generic labeling that a new petition describes as “racist,” adding that it perpetuates ethnic stereotypes.
USA Today reported that over 1,200 people have signed a change.org petition that claims the grocery store chain “labels some of its ethnic foods with modifications of ‘Joe’ that belies a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.” The petition goes on to point out that Trader Ming’s is used to brand the chain’s Chinese foods and Trader José’s for Mexican foods.
“The Trader Joe’s branding is racist because it exoticizes other cultures – it presents ‘Joe’ as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it – they are ‘Arabian Joe,’ ‘Trader José,’ and ‘Trader Joe San,’” the petition states.
Trader Joe’s has already responded by saying that it is in the process of revamping its labeling, and that it plans to roll out new packaging without the ethnic terms for “Joe.”
“The company said in a statement that it decided several years ago to use only the Trader Joe’s name on its products and has been in the process of updating the ethnic-sounding labels,” the company told CBS Los Angeles.
“While this approach to product naming may have been rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness, we recognize that it may now have the opposite effect – one that is contrary to the welcoming, rewarding customer experience we strive to create every day,” a spokesperson for the grocery chain added.
“With this in mind, we made the decision several years ago to use only the Trader Joe’s name on our products moving forward,” added Kenya Friend-Daniel, Trader Joe’s national director of public relations. “Since then, we have been in the process of updating older labels and replacing any variations with the name Trader Joe’s, and we will continue do so until we complete this important work.”
This comes at a time when political correctness is taking over society, with liberals being “offended” left and right by the simplest of things. Today, Trader Joe’s is the target of cancel culture, and we can only imagine what will be targeted for cancellation tomorrow.
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