In their latest campaign for International Women’s Day, Hershey’s chose to feature a biological man who claims to be a woman as a spokesperson for the female-themed campaign — prompting outrage on social media.
While bringing back its “SHE” bar for the campaign in Canada, the company included in its advertisement a man who calls himself Fae Johnstone — a transgender activist and director of Wisdom2Action. Johnstone’s website describes him as a “white settler, from a middle class family” who is the first male transsexual to serve on the board of directors of the YWCA Canada.
Despite Hershey’s claims that it wants to “shine a light on the women and girls who inspire us every day,” the company apparently thought that putting a man masquerading as a woman in their campaign was a fitting tribute to International Women’s Day.
Johnstone announced his participation in the campaign in a tweet on Wednesday.
“The chocolate’s out of the wrapper! Honoured to be featured in this campaign by @Hersheys Canada for #InternationalWomensDay alongside 4 brilliant sisters and change-makers,” he wrote.
Johnstone went on to note that Canadian convenience stores would be selling the special edition “SHE” chocolate bars with his face on them, along with the four actual women featured in the campaign — Kélicia Massala, Rita Audi, Naila Moloo, and Autumn Peltier.
“We still have a long way to go in the fight to end misogyny, patriarchy and gender-based violence. I hope this campaign helps give more young women and girls role models and possibility models. And shows them how we can change the world, together,” he added.
Massala and Audi are both so-called “gender equality” activists, while Moloo is a “climate tech researcher” and Peltier is a native rights and water activist.
It’s no surprise that every individual featured in the campaign is a leftist, as The Blaze noted that Hershey’s International Women’s Day campaign “was executed in partnership with the United Nations Foundation’s GirlUp, a leftist nonprofit that dabbles in climate alarmism and pro-abortion activism.”
The fact that Hershey’s chose a man in their supposed celebration of womanhood has caused major backlash on social media — with many users calling for a boycott and asserting that the company is “erasing women.”
“I hate it when you get a candy bar and you find out it has nuts after the first bite,” joked one user.
I hate it when you get a candy bar and you find out it has nuts after the first bite. 🤣
— Artowarrior (@artowarrior) March 2, 2023
“What an insult to feature a man role-playing as a woman for International Women’s Day. An affront to REAL women everywhere,” said Townhall reporter Mia Cathell, who was later blocked by Johnstone over the tweet.
What an insult to feature a man role-playing as a woman for International Women's Day. An affront to REAL women everywhere.
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) March 2, 2023
“The same people who call to ‘smash the patriarchy’ are the ones supporting putting men playing dress up into women’s spaces,” the popular Twitter account @LeftismForU wrote.
The same people who call to "smash the patriarchy" are the ones supporting putting men playing dress up into women's spaces.#BoycottHersheys
— Leftism (@LeftismForU) March 2, 2023
