Conguitos is back in the spotlight. He Catalan Parliament bar has stopped selling this snack after hearing comments from a customer who described this product as “racist.” The person in charge of the establishment – as ABC learned this Thursday – has made this decision to avoid any negative campaign that may arise from it. For their part, Lacasa, the company to which the brand belongs, has expressed to this newspaper that they respect “the particular decisions of each business” and have “nothing to add in this regard.”
However, it is not the first time that this brand has been involved in a controversy of this type. In 2020, a petition on Change.org demanded a change of image of the legendary chocolate-covered peanuts for considering it “racist.” “Both the term ‘Conguitos’ itself and the cartoonish illustration of a black man with big red lips turn this snack into a stigmatizing product for the black population,” the claim cites. That campaign touched the 6,500 signatures.
Just a year earlier, in 2019, the English Football Federation (FA) officially accused the Portuguese Manchester City midfielder Bernard Silva of misconduct for comparing his then partner Benjamin Mendy with the character that appeared in the Conguitos logo. The footballer published on his X account a photograph of the French player as a child next to the image of the brand and wrote: “Can you guess who he is?” Mendy was not offended, but the comment generated great controversy in England, and he had to pay a 56,000 euro fine and was banned for one match.
Conguitos finally changed its brand image and eliminated the illustration of the African man, although the controversy over the name continues and many ask that it also be replaced by another.
Specifically, at the beginning of the century the brand dispensed with the spears that their dolls carriedand later adapted its logo, renewing the shape and eliminating the prominent lips, until recently dispensing with it.
Some associations, as well as the promoter of the signature collection, have pointed out that the problem persists with the name of the product. Will the next step be to change the name of Conguitos?
The adaptation of other brands, such as Cola Cao
Accusations of racism have affected many brands in recent decades and have caused changes to slogans, logos or image to try to adapt to new times.
In this, Cola Cao has especially stood out, who in 2020 changed the mythical song “I am that black guy…” and modified it with a new and refreshed tone. «Because there are things that should not change, like our recipe with natural cocoa, but others evolve», said the brand after the change.
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