An Australian mom said she was left stunned after finding a ‘racist’ toy when she opened up her son’s Kinder Surprise.
Kimberley from Victoria said she picked up an egg for her 15-month old son Alexander. But when she opened it for him, she discovered a white Kinder Egg figure holding three balloons with the letters ‘KKK’ – the same initials as the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group.
“Initially we laughed in shock. It was kind of like, ‘Are we seeing and reading this right?’” Kimberley told Kidspot.
But once the initial shock faded, Kimberley then said she ‘felt sick’ at the thought her child could have played with the white Egg with KKK on it.
“As soon as you open the package the toy comes in two parts,” she said. “One is the egg and the other is the balloons with ‘KKK’ written on them. As soon as you see them – you notice it.”
She added: “This is a massive oversight that anyone could have seen. t’s also hard to find something to say as the initials of Kinder Surprise aren’t ‘KKK’.
“It raises questions as to what the company supports and if this is subliminal marketing.”
That’s why Kimberley decided to write a letter to Kinder Egg’s parent company Ferrero Rocher and asked about the meaning behind the toy.
She was told that it was part of a limited-edition run to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kinder Eggs.
A statement from the company read: “We sincerely apologise for any offence caused due to the inference of how the three Ks read together on this toy.
“As detailed in the note to our consumer, initially it was designed with one balloon with a ‘K’ on it.
“However, two more were added to provide a more robust structure, as the safety and quality of our toys is of the utmost importance.
“We had absolutely no intention to make associations with the Ku Klux Klan and we truly apologise to our consumers for any unintentional offence caused.
“We do not support this organisation in any way. The K on the balloons was solely meant to represent Kinder. We can inform you this toy, which was part of a limited edition for Kinder’s 50th birthday, has been discontinued.
“Stock from this toy range has also been withheld from the market and destroyed.
“Rest assured, we are revisiting our internal processes to ensure something like this cannot happen again. It was never intended for this toy to be offensive, and we would like to extend our sincerest apologies again.
“In addition, any consumer who has received the toy in question can contact our consumer services to arrange a replacement, if they wish.”
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