Earlier this week, Kellogg's came under fire for debuting its Corn Pops cereal boxes which were thought to be racist. Once it was brought to the company's attention, Kellogg's apologized and is now redoing the art on the back of the cereal box. People are wondering how the art department let something like that slip through.

The art on the back of the box

The art on the back of the box shows the characters having a good time at a busy shopping mall. All the cartoon Corn Pops are taking part in a fun activity except one. While some are shopping, others are jumping rope or playing arcade games.

There is one Corn Pop that is not doing any of those things. Instead of engaging in a fun activity, he is working, and not doing just any work. The brown Corn Pop is dressed as a janitor who pushes a floor waxer.

The complaint

Last Tuesday, author Saladin Ahmed complained on Twitter that the Kellogg's cereal box is sending the wrong message. It is teaching kids racism because the only brown Corn Pop depicted working as a janitor, instead of having a good time like the others at the mall.

Shortly after Ahmed posted his tweet, Kellogg's apologized and said the artwork is being updated and replacement boxes will be in stores soon.

The Battle Creek, Michigan company that makes the cereal said it is committed to diversity and inclusion and never intended to offend anyone.

The responses on Twitter are varied. Some people supported the company by saying the characters aren't real so no one should be complaining. Another person said the cereal is for kids who would never have noticed anything if an adult had not pointed it out.

Others defended the position of being a janitor.

Social media influence

Once upon a time, people didn't have the platform to speak out when they wanted to complain about something. With social media available, people are speaking out more frequently about advertising that misses the mark. Within five hours of Ahmed's complaint, Kellogg's moved to make a correction.

Earlier this month, Dove had a campaign about its body wash that also received complaints on social media. People thought it was racist when a black women removed a T-shirt and underneath was a white woman. Dove apologized, but back in 2011, the company came under fire for another body wash product.

A company in Brazil came under fire this week for advertising black toilet tissue with the slogan, "Black is Beautiful." The company was accused of racism for using the popular slogan that has been used by the African-American community for years. The company apologized and removed the ad after people on social media complained.
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