Donald Trump Jr.’s Syrian-refugee candy-analogy has gone down with a thud on social media. Wrigley, the owner of Skittles, offered up the PR save of the day in its well-thought out response.
What do color-coated candies and Syrian refugees have in common? Not much, according to denizens of the internet, who collectively raked Donald Trump Jr. over the coals for a tweet he sent out late Monday.
The first child and namesake of the Republican presidential candidate sent #Skittles trending on Twitter after sending out the post below:
This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016
But the tweet quickly backfired as Twitter erupted into memes, take downs and outrage over the candy/refugee analogy:
When someone puts refugees and Skittles in the same sentence. pic.twitter.com/jGaJWG2mY4
— Animosity (@SlayAnimosity) September 20, 2016
Three very dangerous Skittles. Just takes three. pic.twitter.com/AISnm2w3L4
— Dr Kelly Sennholz (@MtnMD) September 20, 2016
Thousands of Syrian children just like Omran have been killed in the war. They aren't Skittles. They're children. Just like yours. #Skittles pic.twitter.com/3x7TW8hDOV
— N (@_narbie) September 20, 2016
The post from Trump Jr. came as the U.S. grappled with a string of possible terror attacks and after 28-year-old Afghani native Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested in an investigation into explosions in New York over the weekend.
As for the inspiration for the Skittles analogy, conservative talk-radio host and politician Joe Walsh, appeared to be taking the credit:
Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month.
Glad you agree. pic.twitter.com/Nssw6KC1HY
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) September 20, 2016
@grgdwyr the funniest part is that the idea started with #yesallwomen pic.twitter.com/qJX9idYoUU
— W.E.B Siteman (@BeingDetained) September 20, 2016
It’s the second time in less than a week that Trump Jr. has stumbled into a furor over comments seen as insensitive by some. On Wednesday, he suggested the media would be “warming up the gas chamber” if the Trump campaign had behaved the same way as the Democratic Party. He then said the ensuing outcry proved his point that conservatives don’t get fair treatment in the press.
As for the Skittles remark, not all were coming down hard on the Republican presidential candidate’s son. Some criticized Democrats and their supporters for getting more incensed about the post than about bombings and terrorist incidents:
Hillary is obsessed with a cartoon frog and her voters are angrier about a picture of Skittles than people getting bombed.
Victory is near! pic.twitter.com/qiAiGWNqMd
— Vendetta Vidame (@Vendetta92429) September 20, 2016
The Skittles analogy wasn't hard hitting enough.
If we let refugees into our country that will bring more terror and more rapes. Period.
— Pizza Party Paco (@PizzaPartyBen) September 20, 2016
But perhaps the best response came from Skittles maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, which carefully removed itself from the political brouhaha.
“Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy. We will respectively refrain from further commentary, as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing,” said Denise Young, vice-president of corporate affairs for Wrigley Americas, according to a tweet from The Hollywood Reporter’s Seth Abramovitch. MarketWatch contacted Wrigley, but has received no response yet.
Well played, Skittles, said some:
👋👋👋👋 to Skittles' corporate comms team. Perfectly-judged response to a sensitive situation. https://t.co/b9xVnE7ajM
— Nick Laitner (@nicklaitner) September 20, 2016
Years ago, Mars, Inc.-owned Wrigley was dragged into another heated social debates. Protesters demonstrating over the shooting of 17-year old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman held bags of Skittles, one of the few things found on the youth. Wrigley said at the time it would be inappropriate to comment.
This article was originally published on Marketwatch.
