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Conservative trolls want to boycott Froot Loops for “grooming” kids with books

Froot Loops mascot Toucan Sam in a 2023 ad.
Froot Loops mascot Toucan Sam in a 2023 ad. Photo: Screenshot

Conservatives on social media are calling for a boycott of Froot Loops and parent company Kellogg’s over a promotion in Canada offering free access to an online library of equity, diversity, and inclusion content.

As Newsweek reports, boxes of the sugar cereal on sale in Canada feature a web address for the brand’s free “Loop Together Library,” which features kid-friendly e-books about racially diverse protagonists and audio content focused on diversity and cultural inclusion. Boxes also include a code offering parents and kids access to more content.

The site’s content is divided up into categories including kindness, diverse abilities, acceptance, and gender empowerment, as well as content appropriate for ages 3–7, 4–8, and 8–12. The site does not appear to have any content specifically related to LGBTQ+ topics.

According to the library’s website, it was created in partnership with BCG Canada and Kids Can Press to “help families explore diverse topics.” The promotion comes at a time when efforts to ban book concerning issues of race and LGBTQ+ inclusion have become widespread in both the U.S. and Canada.

Predictably, conservatives on social media are losing their minds over the promotion. Over the weekend, X account End Wokeness, which according to its bio on the site is dedicated to “fighting, exposing, and mocking wokeness,” posted images of the Canadian Froot Loops boxes.

“Fruit Loops is now encouraging kids to go online and read their free library of woke propaganda,” the post read

Libs of TikTok, the notorious anti-LGBTQ+ account run by former real estate agent Chaya Raichik, picked up on the absurd outrage the same day, reposting End Wokeness’s post to its 2.6 million followers and calling for a boycott.

Kelloggs “wants to indoctrinate your children with breakfast cereal,” the Libs of TikTok post read. “Stop giving them your money!”

Right-wing radio host Alan Sanders accused the brand of pushing “indoctrination and grooming of children.”

This is hardly the first time prominent anti-LGBTQ+ conservatives have called for a boycott of Kellogg’s. The company already faced backlash this year after its Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger was photographed with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney at the 2023 Tony Awards in June.

Kellogg’s has a history of showing support for the LGBTQ+ community by releasing special limited edition products. In 2018 and 2019, the company partnered with GLAAD to release its “All Together” cereal in celebration of Spirit Day, an annual event aimed at combating anti-LGBTQ+ bullying.

It partnered with GLAAD again in 2021, releasing its “Together with Pride” cereal celebrating Pride month—and leading religious and anti-LGBTQ+ groups to call for a boycott.

In August of this year, America First Legal – founded by former Donald Trump advisor Stephen Miller – filed a complaint against Kellogg’s with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over the company’s support of employment diversity. In social media posts, far-right organization also blasted the company for its LGBTQ+ marketing, citing the “Together with Pride” cereal and a 2022 Cheez-Its box featuring an image of RuPaul.

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