Skittles strikes Trump a blow with simple response to refugee tweet

In a Tweet that was anything but sweet, on Tuesday Donald Trump Jr. used a bizarre analogy to illustrate his thoughts on refugees.

Unsurprisingly, his comments received a mixed response – the 26,000+ ‘favouriteers’ were counterbalanced by a plethora of comments ridiculing the Republican nominee’s son.

But while the battle on Twitter raged on, Skittles was faced with the unenviable task of deciding how to respond.

Let’s face it, they couldn’t not say anything, while a stock response about how they “in no way endorse Donald Trump Jr.’s comments” would’ve been unsubstantial given the emotionally-charged nature of the topic.

And here’s what they (Mars Inc., Skittles’ owners) said:

“Skittles are candy; refugees are people. It’s an inappropriate analogy. We respectfully refrain from further comment, as that could be misinterpreted as marketing.”

The genius of this response lies in the ‘less is more’ approach.

By consciously limiting their response, Mars shrewdly acknowledged the gravity of the comments Trump Jr. shared, ensured they wouldn’t get further dragged into the debate, and positioned themselves as confectionary’s nice guys.

In an age where global corporations are making headlines for tax avoidance and exploitation, not capitalising on the comment for commercial benefit is more newsworthy than doing so.

Also, perhaps ironically, “Skittles are candy; refugees are people” is strikingly simple, memorable and sharable, not unlike most of the campaign messages ‘The Real’ Donald Trump is peddling in his quest to become POTUS.

All in all, Mars’ PR team should be very happy with their handiwork – not that they’d tell us if they were, mind.

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