Divided Coverage of Backlash to Hershey Women's Day Advertisement
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Hershey’s Chocolate drew criticism from voices on the right this week for an International Women's Day marketing campaign that featured a transgender woman.
Details: The Hershey’s website for the marketing campaign states, “this International Women’s Day, celebrate the women changing the future in your community.” It then includes biographies of the five women included in the campaign, one of which is Fae Johnstone, a transgender woman that the website describes as a “leading voice in the conversation around Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ issues, advocating for transgender rights and banning conversion practices.”
How The Right Reported On It: Right-rated outlets tended to highlight criticism of the campaign, mostly voiced on Twitter, that argued the chocolate company was erasing women by including Johnstone in the campaign centered around International Women’s Day. Coverage typically noted previous instances of corporations creating marketing campaigns that aligned with values and views seen more in lean-left and left communities, noting the popular phrase “go woke, go broke,” which argues corporations suffer financially when crafting marketing campaigns around political causes.
How The Left Reported On It: Left-rated outlets tended to highlight statements from Hersey’s and the transgender woman involved in the campaign and characterized the backlash as a culture war issue. Coverage typically included notes on recently proposed and passed legislation regarding transgender Americans, such as bans on transgender procedures for minors in Utah and Mississippi, positioning the candy backlash as part of a larger attack on LGBTQ Americans.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
That #BoycottHershey Campaign Explained (It’s Not About Chocolate)After Hershey’s Canada announced that Fae Johnstone, a trans woman, would be one of five women featured in Hershey’s Canada’s International Women’s Day campaign, #BoycottHershey began to trend on Twitter, an apparent conservative backlash.
Hershey’s Canada launched the HER for SHE campaign on Wednesday with limited edition wrappers featuring the likenesses of five Canadian women, including Johnstone.
Johnstone, a professional LGBTQ+ advocate and award-winning trans activist, announced her part in the campaign Wednesday saying, “I hope this campaign helps give more young women and girls role models and possibility models.”...
From the Left
Hershey’s stands by trans woman in ad despite right-wingers losing their mindsHershey’s Canada is standing by a new trans-inclusive ad campaign after right-wing backlash.
Late last month, the chocolate company announced the “HER for SHE” campaign, celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8. The campaign includes special limited-edition chocolate bars in wrappers featuring images of young Canadian women who are “changing how we see the future.”
Among the five women featured in the campaign is Fae Johnstone, executive director of Wisdom2Action, a Canadian social enterprise and consulting firm focused on LGBTQ+ issues, gender-based violence, and mental health. Johnstone also happens to...
From the Right
Hershey's faces backlash over putting trans woman on candy bar wrapper for International Women’s DaySocial media users slammed candy company Hershey’s after it debuted a pro-transgender ad for its chocolate bars in honor of International Women’s Day.
Disturbed Twitter users hammered the new ad for presenting a transgender woman as Hershey’s representation of the pro-female celebration.
The ad debuted Wednesday as part of Hershey’s Canada’s "Her for She" campaign in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8. The short spot featured trans woman Fae Johnstone – who it noted is a "2SLGBTQUIA+ Advocate" – promoting Hershey’s new female-themed wrapper.
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