Juneteenth branded party supplies and food items from large companies are receiving backlash for their efforts to celebrate the holiday, according to NPR.
Due to the negative reaction that its Great Value store-brand Juneteenth ice cream received, Walmart pulled the flavor from shelves. Many criticized the company for capitalizing on the holiday to drive profit.
"There were several missteps with this. When you collectively look at all these missteps—the branding, the marketing, the visual rhetoric—you understand that there weren't Black creatives in the room that had a voice at the table," Christina Ferraz, founder and head consultant of marketing agency Thirty6five, told NPR.
“The commercialization of [Walmart’s Juneteenth ice cream] to me just continues to bring more pain and trauma to a community that has already been marginalized,” said community leader Athenia Rodney to the Daily News.
Despite any intention the company may have had, the communities most affected by the marketing were likely not included in the conversation, and the consequences were deeply felt. According to NPR, experts they talked to said that the true meaning behind the commemoration of the holiday is often lost through consumerism.
The holiday commemorates the day enslaved people were emancipated in the U.S. "Juneteenth is a significant cultural resonance to the African-American community, but also, of course, throughout much of the rest of the country," said Ravi Perry, a political science professor at Howard University.
Despite these problems, major brands are working to include Black voices, perspectives, and narratives in their companies to create a culture of equity and stand against racism. These efforts include hiring more people of color, casting more Black and minority roles in their ads and marketing materials, and partnering with Black celebrities. Full Story
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