A real Kinder surprise


Kinder eggs are an egg-shaped candy with a small toy inside.  One of the toys included a figure holding three plastic balloons, with each balloon bearing the letter "K" for "Kinder".  But three Ks in a line  can be a problem



The popular chocolate was meant to be a treat for Kimberley's little boy. Kimberley's first reaction to the tiny plastic toy was to burst into fits of laughter.  That a giant confectionary company could somehow send out hundreds of thousands of toys labelled with the initials of one of the most notorious white supremacists groups in the world.

“As soon as you open the package the toy comes in two parts,” she says. “One is the egg and the other is the balloons with 'KKK' written on them. “As soon as you see them - you notice it.”

Even though the white supremacists group is based in the United States, with no official links to Australia, Kimberley  feels that most Australian adults are aware of the group’s actions. “Even to this day, the KKK do exist,” she says.

The chocolate company immediately apologised, making it clear they never meant to offend anyone with the design.

“To offer some explanation of how this toy came to be, initially it was designed with one balloon with a K on it,” Kinder exlained to her via Facebook. "However, two more were added to provide a more robust structure.”

"Please be assured that we had absolutely no intention to make any association with the acronym.”  "We never intended for this toy to be offensive"

They went on to add that the toy, which was part of the limited edition 50th birthday celebration collection, had been discontinued. “In addition, stock from this toy range has been withheld from the market and destroyed,” they said.

“Rest assured, we are revisiting our internal processes to ensure something like this cannot happen again.

“It was never intended for this toy to be offensive and we would like to extend our sincerest apologies.”

SOURCE