January 17, 2006

This petition aims to gather support for the motion that using the term 'Filipinos' as a brand name for a chocolate biscuit is needlessly offensive, stigmatizing and even racist, especially in certain advertisements.

'Filipinos' cookies are small, flat, donut-shaped biscuits topped with chocolate. Filipinos are produced by Artiach, a Spanish brand that is part of the UK's United Biscuit (UB). Its website claims that Filipinos are the leading chocolate biscuit in Spain.

The name is offensive for two reasons.

First of all, there is the simple name-association itself. Attaching the name Filipinos to a sweet product with a hole in the middle that is consumed for pleasure and contains little nutritional value is not very charming.

Secondly, there is the problem of the name being used in marketing campaigns and thus becoming depreciatory. One blogger already noticed the food instruction on the package: "Try Filipinos after one hour in the fridge." Worse yet is the present Dutch campaign to sell Filipinos that asks consumers: 'Are you as Tasty as a Filipino?'

'Filipinos' as a brand name for a chocolate biscuit needs to be abandoned.