Last year they challenged the US television companies Sesame Street Workshop Corporation and Nickelodeon/Viacom regarding their use of the racist caricature Zwarte Piet (of the Dutch and Belgian winter festival Sinterklaas) in their merchandise and programming in the Netherlands. Since then, both companies have agreed to cease their usage of any and all depictions of Zwarte Piet in the future. And now the InterNational Anti-Racism Group (INARG) is back to campaign against JAMIN – the Dutch confectionary company who sell products on behalf of US-based companies such as Coca Cola, Kraft and Hershey’s.

Despite the international uproar Zwarte Piet has caused in recent years as well as the on-going conflict over the character’s ubiquitous role in the Sinterklaas festivities, JAMIN has continued to produce and profit from racist imagery in the Netherlands that would not be permitted in the USA. Therefore, INARG will be petitioning the aforementioned US food companies to put pressure on their associates at JAMIN in a bid to prevent the use of racist depictions in their advertising and packaging. Meanwhile, INARG also request that we as a community refrain from purchasing JAMIN products until this matter has reached a satisfactory resolution. 

So spread the word and in the meantime ERIF will keep yo posted on the campaign’s progress!