Walmart’s new Juneteenth ice cream is being panned by consumers as a poor marketing decision.
The product, released as a “Celebration Edition” under the brand’s Great Value brand, is a mix of red velvet and cheesecake flavors.
“Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope,” reads a message on the side of the pints of the ice cream. The containers are decorated with black, yellow, red, and green stripes.
The company has also attempted to trademark the flavor name Juneteenth
The Celebration Edition ice cream line also includes a Pride flavor — white chocolate ice cream with brownies and cherries.
Photos of the Juneteenth ice cream circulated on Twitter over the weekend. Users rebuked Walmart for the product, which was deemed to be in poor taste or insensitive.
Others opposed the use of Juneteenth to generate a profit.
Walmart, which is currently valued at more than $327 billion, has not publicly addressed the backlash against the product.
On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday by signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. The holiday is to be observed every June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in America.
The bill was unanimously approved by the Senate.
“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” said Biden in his remarks regarding the policy. “They embrace them.”
Following its official installment as the twelfth federal holiday, some activists warned that Juneteenth would become a political tool.
"Juneteenth is another opportunity for businesses to sell to Black folks and wrap it up," Earl Fowlkes, the president of the Center of Black Equity, told Business Insider.
“Few Americans outside Black communities knew much about Juneteenth, the June 19 holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the US, before last year,” the outlet reported in 2021.
A YouGov poll reported that the majority of Black Americans had never celebrated the holiday before 2021 with 49% saying they had never celebrated Juneteenth.
