‘Rooted in respect’: Nestle dumps Red Skins and Chicos lolly names

Nestle says it will change the names of traditional lolly favourites Red Skins and Chicos, saying they’re now out of step with societal values.

Nestle has announced that it will rebrand Allen's Red Skins lollies. Picture: Supplied.

Nestle says it will change the name of traditional lolly favourites Red Skins and Chicos, saying the names were now “out of step” with current societal values.

The company said it was moving­ quickly to change the names, but had not yet decided on the new names for the products.

“This decision acknowledges the need to ensure that nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues,” ­Nestle said.

“These names have overtones which are out of step with Nestle’s values, which are rooted in respect­.”

The company declined to comment further when contacted by The Australian.

Made in New Zealand, Red Skins lollies originally featured an image of Native American wearing traditional headdress, but the packaging was changed more than 20 years ago to feature a more nondescript character.

Allens lollies, which is owned by Nestle, first introduced Red Skins in the 1970s. The confectionary brand released Chicos in the following decade.

Nestle’s announcement comes after a storm erupted over the names given to some products in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. The protests started in the US after the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd while in police custody on May 25 and spread around the world.

Protesters claim that such names, as well as statues and other cultural and historical items, should be dumped as they commemorate slavery and European imperialism.

In the US, complaints about the branding of products including Uncle Ben’s rice and Aunt Jemima pancakes soared while locally some have campaigned for Western Australia’s Colonial Brewing to change its name.

US food giant PepsiCo, which owns the Aunt Jemima brand, said last week it would retire the label because of its origins in racist­ imagery of black people. Rival Mars quickly followed to announ­ce that it would change its Uncle Ben’s brand.

Controversy around the name of Colonial Brewing, which its owners say was chosen because the beer maker was “colonising” WA’s traditional wine growing region of Margaret River, surged after Melbourne-based retailer Blackhearts & Sparrows said it would no longer sell the product.

Iconic Australian cheese Coon has also been embroiled in the push for political correctness, with calls for the name of the brand to be changed, as the term is often used as a racial slur toward­s indigenous Australians.

The Coon brand is named after US cheesemaker Edward William Coon, who invented the style of cheese manufacturing.