Trader Joe's

Trader Joe’s Won’t Change Its ‘Racist’ Product Names

"A national grocery chain faced criticism for product lines such as “Trader José” and “Trader Ming’s,” which a San Francisco high-school student, Briones Bedell, argued exoticize other cultures and present “Joe” as the default; she started an online petition calling for name changes. Initially, spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel said the company was in the process of updating those names, but about two weeks later the company reversed course, saying it “disagrees that any of these labels are racist” and that the names were meant to be fun and appreciative of other cultures. Friend-Daniel later told the AP that some names have already been dropped and more may be removed in the future, but any further changes will be driven by feedback from customers and employees rather than by an online petition. The sequence of statements prompted public confusion and debate, with critics calling the reversal a backtrack and some defenders framing the controversy as an overreach by “cancel culture.”" - Chris Crowley