"Red Skins" and "Chicos" Are Getting a Name Change for Extremely Obvious Reasons

About time.

If you’ve walked down a lolly aisle anytime in the past, ooh, gosh, let’s say 25 years, you at one point have likely remarked at some of Allen’s iconic sweets: "Yikes, are they still seriously called that?"

Well, Nestlé has suddenly realised that the names of some of its Allen’s brand lollies are actually super racist and maybe/definitely always have been. So, they’re getting a name change.

We’re of course talking about Red Skins and Chicos.

How come?

"Redskin" is a slur against Native Americans, with origins in the 19th century. It is now widely acknowledged as an offensive term, and even the Washington Redskins NFL team has faced extreme pressure to change their name in recent times. (It was literally an entire plotline on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.)

But what does that have to do with the lolly? Well, the packaging of Red Skins, up until the late 1990s, featured a Native American character. Though the packaging changed at the turn of the century, Nestlé has never been able to adequately shake off the racist beginnings of the otherwise benign chewy red treat.

"Chico", meanwhile, is Spanish slang for "child", and though it’s not a slur in and of itself, how the lolly came to be named is certainly offensive. Basically, Chicos are a variation of Jelly Babies, but instead of being fruit-flavoured, they are cocoa-flavoured. They were then given, ahem, an ethnic name for their colour.

For literal decades, anyone who’d complained about the clearly wrong-headed items (no matter their deliciousness) was accused of being politically correct, usually by people not belonging to the groups that were being marginalised.

However, thanks to our current cultural moment, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Nestlé has decided to finally change the name of Red Skins and Chicos, acknowledging in a statement, "These names have overtones which are out of step with Nestlé’s values, which are rooted in respect."

"This decision acknowledges the need to ensure that nothing we do marginalises our friends, neighbours and colleagues."

So, what happens to them now?

The items were initially named by Allen’s Lollies, which was started in Melbourne in 1891 before eventually being sold off to Nestlé in 1985.

Though Nestlé has not yet picked new names for the items, they’ve promised to "move quickly".

Social media reactions include those who honestly cannot believe it took this long, after multiple instances of tragedy and trauma worldwide, for organisations to agree not to normalise extremely obvious racism. (Also, for all people, systems and organisations, it should be noted that these kinds of moves constitute "the bare minimum".)

Others are having a whinge that this is the latest example of PC culture gone mad. It’ll be a shame if those tweeters boycott the treats once they get a different name: we’d bet they’ll basically taste the exact same, if a little less racist.

Header Image: Nestlé