passthru

Holy shit you're ignorant. There is a lot of racism in the USA, and not just towards black people. If you can't figure out what I mean, get out of your house once in a while and learn a little about the world around you.

Back to the topic, if Swedes recognize the word nigger, then adding black to the product name was a total dumbass decision by the company who makes it. The design of the word 'black' on the product takes it a little bit further if you look at it a certain way. I don't think the product is racist but could definately be percieved as racially insensitive by many people.. I don't know how this got through all the phases of reviewing the design of a new product.

I was thinking about words that mean something else in another language. I was told that in some South American countries 'Bob Dole' was similar to something that meant 'penis' and that caused some issues when he was running for president. And speaking of the word 'penis' I'm wondering if connyosis (or anybody else that knows a little .se) thought anything of Redlemon's name..

Seeker

Egg Nog Nogger!

What if they were to have a dark chocolate version? Dark Nogger...

Wouldn't anything added to Nogger sound wrong?

But in context how could you differentiate another version of this ice cream. Would it be better to create an entirely different line?

I'm probably not of the opinion that it is a 'racist ice cream'. I'm all for making things less complex

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Cynthetiq

yeah they do that to chocolate too...

hide licorice inside of chocolate, unsuspecting people take a bit of what they think will be yummy chololate, only to discover a piece of licorice.

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Lockjaw

They just need to expand the line a bit...

From the people who brought you
Nogger Black are 4 new flavors sure to confuse your pallet and enrage your sensibilities!

Try Yellow Chunk! Lemon ice cream with a peanut butter center!
The Chewbar! Blueberry and vanilla swirl on the inside with a candy apple coating!
Honkicicle! White chocolate coats a hunk of solid clear white frozen ice.
And our new bottled chilled beverage!
The Micshake! Mint ice cream blended with Bailey's Irish cream,scotch,gin,vodka,Guiness,Fosters, and rot gut whiskey!

It's so good you won't care it's so insulting it make people cry themselves to sleep at its very existance.

Holdem Dvorak

First off, Nouget ice cream sounds delicious.

Second, In todays society everything is called racist.

Third, the word nogget reminds me of like a british pet name. "Here Nogget, come to the lift."

Fourth, I wish I was eating some Nouget flavored ice cream of Elizabeth Hurleys sweet british BAdonkAdonk.

connyosis

Ok, this just keeps getting better and better...
The same group, is now bitching about another ice cream, the time the one called '88:an' (The 88).
The reason for this is that H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, so 88 would be HH or Heil Hitler. Apparently this ice cream company isn't just racist anymore, they're nazis as well. As with the Nogger ice cream, the 88 has been on sale in Sweden for as long as I can remember, and no one has never ever complained about its name.
Honest to God, can't someone just tell these people to shut the fuck up and concentrate on fighting real racism instead of bullshit like this?

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jorgelito

Who exactly is complaining again? The large black and Jewish population in Sweden?

connyosis

No, the whiny group of swedes that call themselves Centre against racism. (Of course, there might be black and jewish participants in this group, but I do believe most of them are born in Sweden by swedish parents)

And agin, the reason I'm getting upset about this is not only because its taxmoney being wasted, its because this will only play into the hands of racist organisations here in Sweden. This will make other, sensible work against racism to look stupid as well, not a good thing.

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KinkyKiwi

lol this made my day its absurd and pointless and people are making a big fuss over nothing. oh and that ice cream sounds yummy to me

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DOCBLACKBONE

would anybody be upset if my favorite ice cream was call "redneck cracker bitch"? no big deal right?

la petite moi

:rolls eyes:

This argument is stupid.

connyosis

Uhm...yeah, I could see people being upset by that.
If these ice creams were called "Filthy black bastard" and "übermensche ice cream" I could understand people being upset by that too.

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connyosis

So what if people recognize the word nigger? The product isn't called nigger, it's called nogger for a perfectly good reason, and of course in no way is it racist. I guess most swedes (Both native and those that moved here) agree that this case really has no merit. Those that get offended by this should really just stop and think about what they are being offended about. Isn't there something else they could focus their anger on?

Nope, I didn't think anything more of it. Should I have?

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DOCBLACKBONE

thanks for proving me right!!!!

xepherys

a) The ice cream appears to be white... it's in between two layers of black. Was this an attempt to relay the designers fear of being around black people?

b) Nogger, nigger or anything else... going back to a joke a black comedian once told, if I as a white male American wanted to make potato chips called Barbeque Niggers, I should be able to. It's up to people to not buy them if they think it's offensive.

Why are people so flustered about words? My heritage contains a lot of Irish. They aren't known for being well-loved people in their area of the world. If someone called mint chocolate chip ice cream "Emerald Coal-crackers" I'd be more amused than offended. Actually, I think that's a DAMNED GOOD name, despite some soft-bellied folk maybe getting upset about it. *shrug*

People need to get over themselves.

xepherys

Racially Insensitive? I guess my post above only touches on my true feelings about this... but seriously. If a black man is prejudice against a white man because ones ancestors may or may not have held the others ancestors in slavery, this is somehow not considered racially insensitive. If a white man holds it against a black man that he went to college for free using money put together by a black organization for black-only use that IS racially insensitive. Why aren't people just allowed to feel how they feel anymore? I'm not prejudice outside of the fact that I hate stupid people. You can be just as stupid, black or white (or yellow or red)... why the hell do people care what others do or don't like about people?

There was a post I commented on recently about fat being the last acceptable prejudice. What a crock. All people are prejudice of SOMETHING. It's human nature. You cannot avoid it. People who say they love everyone perfectly equally are likely lying to themselves and/or were tragically raised to believe that everyone is perfectly equal.

What's next? The Olympics being banned because it makes crippled people feel badly about themselves?

paulskinback

The debate, i agree is ridiculous - political correctness gone bad - a thing not too uncommon these days.

I think the real debate should be who the hell in their right mind would want to eat licorice flavoured ice cream? sounds rank to me....

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mrklixx

Solution : Call it "Nogga", and all is well.

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registrant2000

I like how every reply in this thread missed out on what is probably the most offensive thing about this.. the original poster calling black people "colored". Not once, but at least twice! That's far more offensive than any ice cream advert to me. Talk about racial insensitivity.. it's kinda funny how people missed that or turn a blind eye to that kinda thing. Hmph, somehow I'm not surprised.

connyosis

Yeah...that was the worst thing about this thread, I agree...

No seriously, I think it's a swedish thing. At least where I'm from, black people are generally called colored since that is considered less sensitive than calling them black. It wasn't racially insensitive, it was simply swedish.

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registrant2000

^We'll just agree to disagree about whether the term "colored' is insensitive or not. If as a "black" person I tell you that being called colored (whether it's acceptable in sweden or not) is offensive, I'd hope you take that into consideration when using that terminology in the future.

dougiefresh

The progress of moving away from ultimate political correctness is truly niggardly.

Whoops....guess I'm racist!

sbscout

Yeah, I noticed that too. Even though in his society, it is less offensive than labeling someone as "black," I do think that his choice of words "colors" his argument a bit.

I'm not claiming that the poster is racist, by the way, but it points out the sensitivity of the entire issue.

We have to listen to all sides before making judgments!

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connyosis

I never said 'colored' was more or less sensitive than 'black', I just said it is considered that in Sweden. Of course, should I travel somewhere where the opposite is the rule, I'd adjust what I say according to that. I guess it's kind of a different situation when posting on the internet, being that I'm sitting in Sweden but talking to people all over the world.

Why should 'colored' be more insensitive than 'black' if I don't have any nasty intentions? I certainly meant nothing bad about it, why do you instantly think it's very insensitive of me? (Not arguing with you, just wondering)

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ForgottenKnight

I think they're over-reacting. I also think it was a bad idea on the company's part to use the font they used for the packaging. I don't think this would be an issue if the font for the second word matched the first.

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Pip

"Coloured" is insensitive in swedish too, since it implies that pasty aryan-white is the norm and all others are, well, coloured. "Black" is actually a better term. But I agree most Swedes tend to believe "coloured" is a "kinder" term, also, it's used as a general term for non-whites. There hasn't been much public debate about what terms are better to use and such here, so we kind of suck at this. The icecream is mighty tasty though.

jorgelito

Is there even a sizeable population of black people to get offended at this in Sweden? I still don't get who's doing the complaining? Is it black people in Sweden? How many are there?

Strange Famous

I would definitely approve this product being banned. It is a deliberate attempt to cash in on stereotypes which are negative to many people - the word "nogger" in itself may not be offensive if it is generally understood to be nougart ice cream, but combined with the term black and the graffitti tag text - it is clear what these producers are trying to do.

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connyosis

I don't know if I'm really bad at explaining or if you just don't read my posts.
The complaining comes from a group called Centre again racism, which from what I can understand is supposed to represent the non-native population in Sweden. Funny thing is, most people, native swedes or not, think this is one of the most stupid things they've heard.
My personal complaint regarding this is that tax payers money are being wasted on something so stupid as this, when it could be spent on real problems with racism here in Sweden. (Like for instance some companies not employing certain people because of their names/skin color)

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Pip

*pokes around at the Swedish Central Statistics Bureau webpage*

We had over 15000 from Somalia living here in 2004 for instance, that's the largest group of African immigrants by far. Then there are 2800 from Gambia, and 2500 from Uganda.
There are also large groups from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chile, Turkey, Syria, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Bangladesh, and all over Europe. If it weren't for the immigrants the population of Sweden would decline, but now we are a staggering nine million! Which is about as many as New York I believe.

lukethebandgeek

Why do all these people not like liquorice? I love liquorice. I can't get enough. I wish they had that Ice cream in the states. I also want a bucket of Jagermeister and Ouzo. Absinthe's good too. Mmmm... Absinthe flavored Ice Creme.

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stevie667

Sounds like a bit of hate mongering to me.

If someone asked me what came to mind if they said noggar black, i'd probably ask how alcoholic it was.

At this rate we'll be reduced to saying 'non standard-light-spectrum reflective surface' when talking about black, and then you'll be called a racist for calling white white.

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jorgelito

I do read your posts. It wasn't clear to me what the Center Against Racism was(is). I suppose I should have rephrased my question. I just wanted to know if there was a significant population of black people in Sweden and if there was, were they the ones complaining or if this Center Against Racism was comprised of mostly Swedes. If so, then it would be awfully presumptuous for a bunch of Swedes to say what the blacks would be offended by, it's patrenalistic. Unless a group of black brought the complaint themselves.

I didn't realize Sweden had such a racism problem that they needed a Center to deal with those issues.

connyosis

Sorry, didn't mean to come out as rude as I did. Yes, as far as I understand this complaint came from a native swede working for this centre against racism. Most of the black population in Sweden does not seem to care about this issue at all.
Yes, Sweden has some problems with racism, but then again most countries have. Things seems to have calmed down though, I believe during the early 90:s, we had a bunch of neo nazi groups messing around, most of these seems to be gone now.

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