But this Pride, only one rainbow deserves to be the centre of attention - yours. On the back of each monochrome package, the Wrigley Company included an explanation for the company's marketing decision: "So this is kind of awkward, but we're just gonna go ahead and address the rainbow-colored elephant in the room. Skittles rainbow themed packaging had also been altered temporarily to complement the achromatic confectionery within. The Wrigley Company, a separate representing party of Skittles brand, mass produced these limited-edition colorless candies in preparation for the month of June, also nationally recognized as LGBT Pride Month.
Skittles, iconic for its tagline “Taste the Rainbow,” had been stripped of all color in efforts to promote the legalization of same-sex marriage. In 2019, it conducted a pre-Super Bowl campaign featuring Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical, which was performed one time only at The Town Hall in New York City.Ĭontroversy struck over Skittles temporary color change from the candies signature rainbow to white in efforts of supporting the Gay Rights Movement during the 2016 London Pride. In 2018, it produced a Super Bowl commercial that was viewed by only one person. Skittles marketing has become known for its avant-garde viral marketing techniques, particularly in conjunction with the Super Bowl. The move was debated by people interested in social media. On March 2, 2009, Skittles launched a web-based marketing campaign where their official website became a small overlay with options to view different social media sites in the main area, including its official YouTube channel, a Facebook profile, and a Twitter account. In 1982, domestic production of Skittles began in the United States. They were first introduced in North America in 1979 as an import confectionery. Skittles were first made commercially in 1974 by a British company. The confectionery has been sold in a variety of flavor collections, such as Tropical, Wild Berry, Dessert, Sweet Heat and Sour. The interior consists mainly of sugar, corn syrup, and hydrogenated palm kernel oil along with fruit juice, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors. Skittles consist of hard sugar shells imprinted with the letter "S". Separate to SPAR’s “white pride” labelling kerfuffle, Mars has faced criticism for the decision to commemorate Pride by releasing all-white Skittles, especially after the move was first made in 2017.Skittles is a brand of fruit-flavored candy, currently produced and marketed by the Wrigley Company, a division of Mars, Inc. The slogan associated with the white Skittles is “During Pride, only one rainbow matters.” So the point of the campaign was that Skittles, which are multi-colored and famously marketed with the slogan “Taste the rainbow,” would be stripped of that rainbow theme during Pride month, in deference to and solidarity with Pride and the LGBTQ rainbow symbol. We will make sure it never happens again. Hello, this was a labelling error last year that was quickly rectified. Later on June 3, the UK Twitter account of SPAR clarified that the photograph related to a photograph taken in 2020, and resulted from a “labelling error that was quickly rectified”: As a result, we’re issuing a rating of “Mixture.” The photograph was authentic, but it was the result of an oversight by whoever created the shelf labels in that particular supermarket, rather than a corporate policy on the part of SPAR, the Dutch supermarket chain in question, or Mars, which makes Skittles. On June 3, for example, posted the photograph to Twitter, along with the caption, “I don’t think that’s the kind of pride they mean.” The wording on the shelf label - “Skittles White Pride” - could readily be interpreted as suggesting that the item was a racially charged expression of white supremacy: In June 2021, which is LGBTQ Pride Month in the United States and other countries, readers asked Snopes about a widely shared photograph that appeared to show a bag of white Skittles, designed to commemorate Pride, but labelled “White Pride” in a supermarket.