As a way to make dishwashing more “fun,” Paladone Products Company has created a line of afro-sponges. If this sounds overtly racist and crazy, it’s because well… the sponges come in four styles — the “Disco,” the “Beehive,” “Punk,” and “Diva,” favoring Diana Ross. “Our range of four washing up sponges are designed to make an everyday chore like washing up more fun,” said the company’s spokesperson about the billow-pad topped cleaning caricatures.
Unfortunately for the British-based company, people are not having fun with the new products and have voiced their anger. The Unite Against Fascism (UAF) has called Paladone out, saying the product is a similar to “Jim Crow memorabilia” that is racially insensitive and insulting. The UAF’s General Secretary Weyman Bennet said, “What are we going to have next, toilet brushes like that? This is not appropriate for the 21st century to show images like that. Although it’s aimed at being humorous, sometimes it’s not funny.”
Meanwhile Paladone claims they have gained a profit from the new line and they don’t plan on pulling it from stores anytime soon.
