Supermarket giant Coles will change the name of an in-house brand of biscuits amid claims it is racist.
Coles Spokesman Jim Cooper said the name of the "You'll Love Coles" brand of chocolate and vanilla biscuits, called Creole Creams, will be changed as part of the company-wide rebranding of Coles products.
The name change comes on the back of claims of racism, with the word Creole used to describe a person of mixed European and African ancestry.
"The word Creole comes from a period when people's humanity was measured by the amount of white blood they had in their bloodstream. This is the same kind of thought that underpinned horrific regimes like the Nazis," Sam Watson, the deputy director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland, told brisbanetimes.com.au yesterday.
But Mr Cooper today disputed the racist claims and said the name Creole Creams referred to the "well-known Creole cuisine style that originated in the US.''
"The biscuits in question were named in reference to the well-known Creole cuisine style that originated in the US. It was certainly not intended as a racial reference, nor intended to cause offence," Mr Cooper said this morning.
He said the product had been stocked on Coles' shelves for three years and the company had never received a complaint.
However, he said the name would be changed as part of a rebranding exercise.
"That said, the product is about to undergo a packaging redesign, as part of our broader re-branding of 'You’ll Love Coles' products to simply 'Coles', and the product will be re-named as part of that process."
Opinion on the naming of the biscuits Creole Creams has been divided, with some internet blog posters and radio talkback callers unaware of its racial meaning.
Mr Watson said yesterday the use of a racially-loaded word for a chocolate and vanilla biscuit was thoughtless.
"The word Creole comes from a period when people's humanity was measured by the amount of white blood they had in their bloodstream. This is the same kind of thought that underpinned horrific regimes like the Nazis," Mr Watson said.
"People need to exercise their intellect. This so-called blending was actually the institutionalised rape of black women. They were victims of brutal regimes of rape and victimisation."
Mr Watson described the biscuit name as deeply insensitive and indicative of a "deep undercurrent of racism in white Australian society".
"It virtually infects every level of Australia's consciousness, language, culture and history," he said.
"Why the need to use that sort of language to market a confectionery?"
Creole cuisine is a style of spicy cooking originating in Louisiana.
It combines influences from Europe, Africa, North and Latin America, and India, and is known for dishes such as Jambalaya, Gumbo, and Pecan pie.
Coles’ Creole Cream is a chocolate and vanilla biscuit similar to Arnott’s Delta Creams and Oreos.
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