Coon cheese and other delights
Posted on | December 15, 2009 | 1 Comment
I’m a huge fan of the comedian Stephen K Amos, and was lucky enough to catch up with him at the Latitude festival last summer.
One of his jokes recounted his experiences in Australia. Walking down the street, he could hear people shouting out: ‘coon! coon!’ Turns out they weren’t racially abusing him, but using the catchphrase of a local cheese: ‘don’t say cheese! Say coon!’
That anecdote was met with much hilarity- 1: at his shock at hearing a racial slur in common use, and 2: the fact that Australians would have no compunction with using said slur as a brand name.
Fast forward five months and my brother in law is preparing to backpack around Oz. Of course that was the perfect opportunity to retell the Amos anecdote and urge him to be careful- after all, a country that delights in using a racist term for its food is unlikely to be the most advanced when it came to embracing multiculturalism. Like other people that I told the joke to, he didn’t quite believe me, but, just days after landing in Australia, he sends me this picture with his packet of coon cheese:
coon cheese
Some basic research into the Coon name reveals differences of opinion as to where the name comes from.
The manufacturers claim the name comes from its creator- anti racist campaigners say it comes from originally being wrapped in black wax.
Like Amos, I’m amazed that the brand exists. It may have been the name of the creator, but the word coon has developed much more sinister connotations over the years.
Surely, if only from a marketing perspective, it makes sense to change the name? Take a non offensive approach in a bid to reach more customers? But maybe that’s just not the Australian way…
Comments
One Response to “Coon cheese and other delights”
Leave a Reply
March 31st, 2010 @ 1:34 PM
While they are at it, please change the name of “crackers” as well, as I white person I think that is racist