When Disney announced its first black princess, Tiana, inThe Princess and the Frog, commenters were worried that the role would be stereotypical and flat. Yet, even though the movie has gone on to earn some $104,400,899, Disney is still receiving criticism for their representation of Tiana.
This time, however, it's not about the movie, but about Tiana's image.
Their Disney Princess Dig 'n Dips Valentine card packets, which have a candy stick and dip à la Fun Dip, showed Sleeping Beauty on the vanilla candy side and Tiana on the watermelon candy side.
Social commenters have pointed out this insensitive placement, given the stereotype of black people liking watermelon.
Sociological Images, who first broke the story, wrote, "In light of [the] history, as well as the ongoing racism, the product below — a Valentine’s Day candy that pairs two Disney princesses — is rather, let’s say, insensitive. The White Cinderella character decorates the vanilla flavored side; the Black Tiana character decorates the watermelon flavored side. Just… wow."
Clutch magazine has called this packaging "sloppy," saying, "As usual, it’s hard to believe that anyone would intentionally make this kind of insensitive mistake, but pairing the white girl with vanilla and the black girl with watermelon should have set off an alarm in someone’s mind."
And Jezebel has chimed in, noting the insensitivity and snarking that, "On the plus side, it appears that the candy flavors are meant to be integrated in order to create a new magical dreamland of tastesplosion, so even though Dig N' Dips are appealing to stereotypes, maybe the whole thing is a metaphor for how the world is more delicious if we simply listen to each other."