Chocolate giants Ferrero slammed over boys and girls versions of kids’ favourite Kinder Easter eggs
The company have been warned they are 'damaging kids' with negative experiences after campaigners raised concerns over the gender specific eggs.
EASTER egg makers have been warned they are damaging kids with “negative experiences” – after flogging boys and girls’ editions in pink and blue colours.
Chocolate giants Ferrero, who make children’s favourite Kinder, have brought out treats for the seasonal holiday featuring DC Comics’ superheroes.
The “Superfriends” edition is packaged blue and features Superman, Batman and the Flash, but the “Superhero Girls” pack with Wonder Woman, Harvey Quinn and Supergirl is pink.
Each sells for £5 and has a toy inside the chocolate egg, described as “fine milk” with “milky white lining”.
Last night grass root campaigners, who urge product makers not to limit kids’ interests by gender branding, said the treats were out of line.
Let Toys Be Toys founder member Megan Perryman told The Sun on Sunday: “It is disappointing to see Kinder continuing to promote pink and blue eggs, particularly when their marketing materials frequently refer to them as being for girls or boys.
“Pink and blue on their own are absolutely fine, but when companies repeatedly use them to promote stereotypes about what it means to be a girl or a boy this can be a negative experience for children.
“We believe in letting children enjoy their childhood and be themselves, without companies promoting limiting stereotypes at them.”
The two eggs have the same 100g chocolate content as each other, but the toys inside are very different.
Kinder’s blue “Superfriends” has a toy of either Superman, The Flash or Batman inside for young fans.
The pink “Superhero girls” one has a Batgirl, Supergirl, Wonder Woman or Harley Quinn included as well as a bracelet that opens to reveal a mirror.
Incredibly this is not the first time Ferrero and Kinder have been in hot water over accusations of gendered products.
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Last year they were condemned for putting out limited editions of their normal smaller products.
A blue-packaged treat came with a free ‘Hot Wheels’ car, while a pink one had a ‘Hello Kitty’ toy.
A Ferrero spokeswoman insisted parents liked the colours on the packaging as it helped them decide what to buy for their kids.
She added: “Kinder Surprise eggs are available in different coloured designs for limited edition promotions, in addition to the core white range.
“The Kinder products available in the UK responds to consumer insights and feedback, these show that parents find the colours helpful as a guide to choose the type of toy they feel is most relevant to their child.
“In the UK we don’t label any of our Kinder products as being for boys or girls.”