Candy company Hershey’s faced backlash after it unveiled female-themed chocolate bars promoted by a biological male who identifies as a woman in honor of International Women’s Day.
In the Women's Day ad, Fae Johnstone, a transgender “2SLGBTQUIA+ advocate,” can be seen posing with a limited edition Hershey bar that says “her for she.”
“My name is Fae Johnstone, I’m the executive director of Wisdom2Action. We can create a world where everyone is able to live in public space as their honest and authentic selves.”
The ad concluded with a message stating, “See the women changing how we see the future” and encourage users to look up Hershey’s Canada on social media.
Hersheys is using a trans woman to promote their "HerShe" campaign in honor of international women's day.pic.twitter.com/41lw5yie9M
— OutKick (@Outkick) March 2, 2023
According to Fox News, the candy bars feature the faces of five women selected to represent the International Women’s Day campaign. This year, Johnstone is one of them.
"This year's HER for SHE initiative spotlights five Canadian women … Autumn Peltier, Indigenous Rights and Water Activist; Fae Johnstone, 2SLGBTQIA+ Advocate; Rita Audi, Gender and Education Equality Activist; Naila Moloo, Climate Tech Researcher; and Kélicia Massala, founder of Girl Up Québec,” a press release from the company reportedly said.
On Twitter, Johnstone said he was featured with four “sisters” in the campaign.
The chocolate's out of the wrapper!
— Fae Johnstone, MSW (@FaeJohnstone) March 1, 2023
Honoured to be featured in this campaign by @Hersheys Canada for #InternationalWomensDay alongside 4 brilliant sisters and change-makers. https://t.co/0s9uh8MvHv pic.twitter.com/jdXNJfcZmo
After the ad was released, the Twitter hashtag #BoycottHersheys began to spread. Last year, a similar backlash occurred with makeup company Ulta, which Townhall covered. This occurred because the makeup retailer invited a biological male who identifies as a woman to talk about “all things girlhood” on its podcast hosted by a biological male who identifies as “gender-fluid.”
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In a statement shared on Instagram, Hershey’s Canada said that its International Women’s Day campaign is meant to be “inclusive.”
“We value togetherness and recognize the strength created by diversity,” the statement said. “Over the past three years, our Women’s History Month programming has been an inclusive celebration of women and their impact. We appreciate the countless people and meaningful partnerships behind these efforts.”
Political commentator Matt Walsh said that Johnstone has a history of being a “vile, woman-hating extremist.”
A few years ago, Johnstone was posting with hashtags like “gayboy” and “proud slut” and writing apologies for his “cis privilege” and for taking up “space” as a “queer” male. pic.twitter.com/SEpM6nNigJ
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 3, 2023
Magically he now had the privilege of lecturing “cis allies,” even though he’d just recently been one himself pic.twitter.com/lPvVGBk2Wi
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 3, 2023
In one of Johnstone’s tweets, Walsh pointed out, Johnstone said that Isla Bryson, a “transgender” prisoner in the United Kingdom who was found guilty of raping women, should be allowed to live in a women’s prison. As Townhall covered, Bryson was moved from a female prison to a male prison following intense backlash.
In a tweet, Johnstone equated removing Bryson from a women’s prison to “segregation” and that “the idea that trans women are a threat to cis women” is what “hurts.”
“Also, abolish prisons. Lol,” Johnstone added.
Hershey’s face of women also believes that his female critics should be “vilified” and attacked until they are too afraid to “speak their views publicly.” This is not new rhetoric from him. He was calling for “militant” queers to rise up against his political opponents in 2017. pic.twitter.com/P2EjOlzp3b
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 3, 2023
The only acceptable response from @Hersheys is to disavow this radical extremist, remove him from the campaign, and apologize to its customers.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 3, 2023
Not to mention, Johnstone promotes stripping parents of their right to know what their children are being taught in school and about their child’s gender identity.
“Parents do not have absolute rights over their children,” he wrote, adding that people should “work with school boards to establish and implement best practices + ensure all students learn about accepting trans people.”
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