About that eskimo pie thing.

[labellementeuse]

So, in New Zealand we have a couple of long-standing sweets called Eskimos - a kind of lolly, and an icecream (they're not related to each other at all.) An Inuit woman visited NZ recently and pointed out that this was, you know, kind of OFFENSIVE. Naturally, everyone has responded to this with the usual PC GONE MAD!1! nonsense.

This is a pathetic response. For a start, if we had any other culture represented in a comestible, ffs - well, we wouldn't. Little chocolates called Maoris? Or - well, insert any ethnic group here. No. Not possible. Think about how ridiculous and offensive that sounds to you and then think about why your response is so different.

AND THEN, on top of that ridiculousness. Eskimo is a kind of complicated word. It refers to a range of indigenous peoples of the top of North America. Some of them don't have a problem with it (Alaskans, apparently.) Some of them feel that Eskimo is a pejorative (Canada, Greenland.) Some of them aren't sure. My point is that the associations with this word are kind of a linguistic nightmare. It's not like having a lolly called Maori. It's a bit more like having a lolly called Horis (an offensive word in New Zealand for Maori, somewhat akin to nigger, perhaps a little milder.)

My point? COME THE FUCK ON, CADBURY. Don't you already make the same stuff as Penguins, anyway? Ugh.

Comments

[trialia]

I don't know what the "Eskimo" sweets/ice-creams are, but I can tell just from that description that no, they're not the same thing as Penguins, and Penguins aren't made by Cadbury, at least not here. The closest thing you guys have to Penguins are Tim Tams, from what I know about them.

I do agree it's stupid to name a lolly or ice-cream or similar that, though. *blink*

[botrytis.livejournal.com]

I doubt that the name Eskimo Pie was a New Zealand invention:

Eskimo Pie is a brand name for a chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar wrapped in foil, the first such dessert sold in the United States. It is now marketed by Nestlé, owners of Dreyer's of the Western United States, and Edy's of the Eastern United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_Pie

Although admittedly I was suspecting a UK origin. I've always known Eskimo Pies, as, well, Eskimo Pies. I've never truncated them to 'Eskimo'.

Re: the reaction, well, guess what, those who are outraged are more likely to rage than those who think "eh." and people don't like being told they're in the wrong.

The lolly is a product of another era. Given how other lollies have changed (spaceman cigarettes, I'm looking at you) or vanished (sniff, snifters) ... I'm surprised that we still have them.

[amarynth.livejournal.com]

For a start, if we had any other culture represented in a comestible, ffs - well, we wouldn't.

Afghan biscuits?

I also think that, while you're correct about attitudes to the word 'Eskimo' vary, I don't think they split as neatly along national borders as you've identified.

The word is Mohican, I think, and it means 'raw fish eater'.

As an aside, I've never heard of Eskimos myself.

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

*here via friendsfriends*

This is all completely valid of course, but what nobody has yet mentioned in this piece of international embarrassment is that Eskimos (the lolly variety) *are repulsive horrible things that taste like ADD-infested sawdust*.

It may be that my willingness to go "oh! God, but of course! I never thought of that! They should totally get rid of Eskimo lollies for ever and ever" is supported somewhat by my lifelong hatred of the things.

Eskimo pies, OTOH, I feel a tiny pang of sorrow at the demise of them and their smiling fur-hooded Inuit caricatures.