Comedian Josh Thomas has started a call for Coon cheese to be renamed, after posting a Tweet yesterday that asked if the public were ok with the name given its use as a racial slur.
The Coon cheese brand website explains the name recognises the word of an American, Edward William Coon, who patented a ripening process that was used to manufacture the original Coon cheese.
Thomas, star of Please Like Me, tweeted that even still, the word caused pain to Aboriginal Australians and made Australians look silly to the rest of the world.
He said he wasn't calling for the end of the cheese brand, just a renaming.
Debate on the topic ran hot on Twitter, with those totally "chill" with the name and others backing the call for a re-naming:
Coon is made by the Australian arm of Canadian dairy firm Saputo which bought the brand's owner, the Warrnambool Cheese and Dairy Company, in 2017.
When contact for comment Saputo stated "our brand name recognises the work of Edward William Coon, who patented a unique ripening process that was used to manufacture the original Coon cheese".
Production of the brand in Australia started in 1935 and continued through to 1942 before the war disrupted production, the company's website states.
Manufacturing restarted in 1948 at Allansford in western Victoria and was made in traditional red waxed cloth wrapped seven pound 'Rounds' known as 'Red Coon'.
Kim Chappell
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
