Bakery sparks PC debate for labelling Christmas treat ‘ginger persons’

A bakery in the United Kingdom has sparked debate across the world after shoppers realised it had branded the commonly known gingerbread men as “ginger persons”.

The delicious Christmas treats are enjoyed by adults and children alike and usually appear in the shape of a stylised human with small button lollies down the front. While some people do create female versions of the biscuits, they mostly appear as men.

The small bakery in North Yorkshire, Thomas the Baker, has decided to instead go with a more gender-neutral term for the treats on sale, calling them ginger persons. Not everyone is happy about it.

“Gingerbread men being changed to ginger ‘persons’  people need to get a grip, most ridiculous thing I’ve seen ahahaha,” one Twitter user wrote in a post.

Another person asked: “So @thomasthebaker what’s your reason for changing this?”

https://twitter.com/Ccourtney_1999/status/1054147837003550720

A third added: “This is just getting stupid. I’ve always known them to be called ‘gingerbread men’ now they’re calling them ‘ginger persons’ because women were moaning that it’s sexist”.

Others seemed happy with the bakery with one person even claiming it was his campaigning that led to the decision.

“Thanks to @thomasthebaker for doing the right thing by changing the name of gingerbread men to gingerbread people. I like to think I played a part in this. I campaigned up and down the country for many months drawing attention to this issue. Here’s to gingerbread people!” he wrote on Twitter. 

https://twitter.com/GuiltyWhiteBoi/status/1054793453022912513

However, it seems it was neither the campaigning nor the modern world that caused the name change of the much-loved treats, with the bakery later clarifying the truth behind the controversial name. 

“Sorry to disappoint you all – they have been ginger persons since 1983!” the bakery wrote on Twitter. “It was chosen by one of our managers in York and the name stuck.”

Sorry to disappoint you all – they have been Ginger Persons since 1983! It was chosen by one of our Managers in York and the name stuck. We did get a complaint from trading standards in the 80's that we were discriminating against ginger haired people – seriously!! https://t.co/bteVKsBaoo

— Thomas the Baker (@thomasthebaker) October 24, 2018

This wasn’t the only surprising admission, with the bakery also explaining they faced a different issue back then. 

“We did get a complaint from trading standards in the ’80s that we were discriminating against ginger haired people – seriously!” the post read.

Read more: PC gone mad? Kleenex scraps ‘mansize’ tissues after backlash from customers

Only recently, the UK’s most popular tissue brand, Kleenex sparked a fierce PC debate, after deciding to scrap its range of ‘Mansize’ tissues following consumer complaints. Kimberly-Clark, the company behind Kleenex, said it received a “consistent increase of complaints” about the branding, with many claiming it was sexist.

Kleenex announced the changes after customers criticised the branding on social media, with users asking why women would be unable to use the same tissues as men. While many were pleased with the name change others branded the move as “ridiculous” and “hilarious”. 

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think they should be called gingerbread persons or gingerbread men?