There are a lot of food-related issues you could get angry about in 2018. There’s mold growing in Capri Suns. We’re learning what’s ~really~ in McDonald’s McRib. We were all bamboozled into believing that Justin Bieber doesn’t know how to eat a burrito. And yet, people are getting upset at a bakery chain because they choose to serve “Ginger Persons” rather than the traditional gingerbread men. Yeah, seriously.
England’s Thomas the Baker bakery chain is currently picking itself back up after being slammed on social media for being too politically correct for customers’ liking. Facebook user Demii Leigh Heffron posted a photo from a Thomas the Baker display case in which the bakery’s Ginger Persons cookies reside.
“It’s happening,” Heffron wrote in her post that has been shared over 13,000 times since October 21st. “It’s actually happening. It’s 2018. Stop the earth, I wanna get off.”
Those in comments blasted the bakery for its snowflake-y behavior. One person wrote that they hope this was the work of Photoshop. Another wrote, “next it’ll be non binary hair and gender fluid edible person.” Danielle called the gingerbread gender switch “racist.” And then Libby brought up Apu being removed from The Simpsons…? It got ugly.
Barely anyone (besides a Twitter parody account) showed any support for Thomas’s decision.
However, Thomas the Baker didn’t purposefully decide to call their Ginger Persons such. The company’s Twitter account tried to clear the air by explaining that they’ve called their cookies Ginger Persons since 1983 and deciding to do so actually had nothing to do with becoming “woke.”
“We did get a complaint from trading standards in the 80’s that we were discriminating against ginger haired people — seriously!!” the company tweeted.
Sorry to disappoint you all - they have been Ginger Persons since 1983! It was chosen by one of our Managers in York and the name stuck. We did get a complaint from trading standards in the 80's that we were discriminating against ginger haired people - seriously!! https://t.co/bteVKsBaoo
— Thomas the Baker (@thomasthebaker) October 24, 2018
No, there is no liberal scheme at play here, nor is Thomas the Baker trying to make some sort of statement with their seasonal treats. Perhaps we should all cool our jets and do a little research before pointing fingers and angrily typing, “won’t be long until calling someone a ‘person’ is offensive!!” as Tammy did.
Take a deep breath and remember that they’re just cookies.
