Krispy Kreme apologizes after accidentally showing racial slur in new ad campaign

Krispy Kreme has issued an apology after including a highly racist slur in its new advertisement.

The doughnut company has landed in hot water after releasing a promotion made by creative agency Abel in collaboration with Limehouse Production.

It encouraged consumers to pick up a box of delicious treats for upcoming celebrations.

The new campaign was aimed to have Krispy Kreme help special occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, sporting events, ect.

Seems harmless, right?

Well, the ad displayed the word ‘Congratulations’, with the three powdered doughnuts for the ‘O’, briefly spelling ‘C***ngrats’.

Krisy Kreme

The racist slur has been pulled from the video, while other promotions from the campaign remain online.

According to the New York Post, Krispy Kreme ANZ Marketing Director Olivia Sutherland has issued an apology on behalf of the company.

“We never intended to offend any person or group,” Ms Sutherland said in a statement.

“We are sorry for the oversight and have removed all congratulations-related ads from the campaign.”

Anti-racism campaigner Dr Stephen Hagan slammed the ad as a ‘disgrace’, especially in this day and age.

“As the originator of changing the Coon Cheese brand to Cheer, it’s an absolute disgrace that in 2023, someone thinks they can come up with an… ad like that on a product that is very popular with people of color,” he told Mumbrella.

“The word has put my family and my people through so much trauma and it’s just disgraceful to see this happening.”

Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

You may remember it was just a couple of years ago when Coon Cheese rebranded to ‘Cheer’ after a long campaign by activists who said the name had racist connotations.

The company was named after American creator Edward William Coon, who invented a method for the fast maturation of cheese through high temperature and humidity.

However, Hagan had been advocating to change the name for decades.

Saputo Dairy Australia, which owns the cheese brand, eventually agreed to rebrand during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement's resurgence in 2020.

"It's satisfying to see the new brand in the shelves after my 21-year public fight against this grossly offensive brand name for a yellow piece of cheese,'' Mr Hagan said at the time, according to The Australian.

"I do acknowledge the great work done by Saputo to make good on their promise to replace Coon with Cheer as the new brand for their popular cheese."