Real cancel culture has existed in the United States and it is worth remembering what it means to be truly cancelled. This is how an oil company like Chevron can pat itself on the back for investing $100m in lowering emissions while simultaneously investing $20bn in oil and gas, or how Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oilfield operators, can proudly distribute 1,000 pink drill bits across the planet, while using known and possible carcinogens at their hydraulic fracking facilities. These corporations don’t have morals, and don’t care about taking political or ethical stances their bottom line is just that – their bottom line. This is why businesses engage in practices like greenwashing – packaging their goods and services in superficially environmentally friendly ways, while doing little to change their real environmental impact – and pinkwashing, the annual tradition of turning products pink for breast cancer awareness, even for products that may cause cancer themselves. ![]() Companies must adapt with the times to make money on a perpetual track of constant and infinite profit. What we perceive as “cancel culture” is just a fundamental function of capitalism playing itself out. Real cancel culture has existed in the United States and it is worth remembering what it means to be truly cancelled Whether or not these were calculated marketing strategies is unknowable, but they fall into a well-established pattern in which corporations try to clean up their pasts and appeal to the public in a way that won’t negatively affect their ability to reap profits. Its CEO has said he expects double-digit growth in the next year, and the rebranding and expansion of the Potato Head line may be a part of the equation. Hasbro is expecting a similar bump to sales. Dr Seuss books are seeing a boost in overall sales, and the books pulled from the shelves are selling for up to $500 online. Hasbro, the owners of the Potato Head family line of toys, is simply changing the brand’s name to Potato Head, which reflects the reality that it covers the Mr, the Mrs and a growing family of potatoes that they seek to sprout in the near future.Īnd quite the opposite of cancellation is on the horizon. Mr Potato Head is not ceasing to exist, nor is his wife and assumed lover Mrs Potato Head. The tale of our favorite spud is much the same. Those books will not be burned they were not forced to be removed by a horde of liberals and the rest of his catalogue will remain untouched. The books that will cease publication are nowhere near his most popular works, and it is doubtful most Americans have even heard of them. Years later he sought to apologize for his actions and wrote the book Horton Hears a Who! to reflect his changed views. During the second world war, Seuss published anti-Japanese cartoons and vocally supported the establishment of concentration camps for Japanese-Americans. These books contain racist imagery that Dr Seuss (real name Theodor Seuss Geisel) may too have been ashamed of. Dr Seuss’s estate decided to voluntarily stop producing six of his books. ![]() Real cancel culture has existed throughout the history of the United States, and much of what we are witnessing today is meaningless and inconsequential by comparison.įirst and foremost, neither Dr Seuss nor Mr Potato Head are being cancelled. Dr Seuss and Mr Potato Head are not being cancelled, they were never going to be, and, if anything, the exact opposite is happening. He can’t be Mr Potato.”Īs is usual with outrage over cancel culture, the discussion is devoid of facts, and aimed at a phantom leftwing mob that mainly exists in conservatives’ minds. One Fox News Host, Brian Kilmeade, exclaimed, “The cancel culture is canceling Dr Seuss … It’s out of control.” During a congressional debate, the Republican California congressman Kevin McCarthy somehow worked the Seuss controversy into an argument against a bill that would expand voting rights, saying, “First they outlaw Dr Seuss and then they want to tell us what to say.” Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, lambasted the rebranding of Mr Potato Head during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), blatting, “Look out, Mr Potato Head, you’re next … I’m sorry, I think now he’s going by Potato X. ![]() ![]() Fox News dedicated much of Tuesday to proclaiming the end of Dr Seuss at the hands of liberals.
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