The American giant supermarket chain Walmart has launched a special ice cream flavor in honor of Juneteenth - Labor Day Liberation - a national African-American national holiday celebrated in the United States every year on June 19, marking the end of the black slavery era in the country.
The packaging of the ice cream, flavored with red velvet and cheesecake, had the caption "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and perpetual hope," along with an illustration of two dark-skinned palms giving each other "fun."
But despite the seemingly goodwill of Walmart, which distributes the ice cream under the chain's private label, not everyone liked this gesture.
The ice cream has been receiving a lot of criticism in recent days on social media and the American media, and is causing a great deal of outrage.
"It's very problematic when white-owned companies treat Jonathan as another opportunity to trade and sell products, with no commitment or intention to help the African-American community, or even to try to understand what this holiday symbolizes," tweeted social activist and black writer Unique Jones Gibson .
"I understand the desire to show that your brand supports the holiday, or the apprehension of your shareholders' reaction if you do nothing on June 19, but if you are not willing to commit and invest in the goal, you better stay quiet that day," Gibson added.
Another response, on behalf of a rights organization called Bridge, was much more blatant.
The organization posted an open letter to Walmart on its website, which said, among other things: "Jonathan is a day of commemoration. A very serious day. This is not a fun day, but a reminder of a devastating and dark period in American history. Will you launch ice cream called 'January 27' - a day "International Holocaust? Or April 7 - Remembrance Day for the genocide in Rwanda? Of course not."
There has also been criticism that Walmart has added a trademark (TM) symbol to the packaging of the ice cream alongside the word Juneteenth, a particularly pointless move.
However, the criticism seems to have taken its toll, as a few days after the launch of the ice cream flavor, Walmart issued a restrained apology, in which it raises the possibility of shelving the controversial product.
"Jonathan's holiday symbolizes freedom and independence. However, we have received responses that few of our products have caused discomfort and concern to some of our customers, and we apologize to them," the statement said.
"We are examining the issue and will remove the products from the shelves as needed."
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