A local commercial began running this weekend to advertise a new line of Girl Scout Cookies aimed at supporting justice for people with disabilities. “Nothing tastes better than equality,” says the young girl in the commercial as she bites into an irregularly shaped Thin Mint.
The concept began with troop mom Susan Kairzalot, who received hundreds of boxes of incorrectly manufactured cookies. Some were missing pieces and others were the wrong shape entirely. Most people would chalk this up as an unfortunate financial loss, but Kairzalot, who enjoys beach walks with wine, knitting and reporting suspicious activity, isn’t your everyday scout mom. Determined to maintain her troop’s status as an elite cookie sales force, the 43-year-old school teacher saw that these cookies, much like some people, “were not actually bad, just … different.”
It is unclear exactly how disabled people will benefit from this initiative, but Kairzalot’s idea of marketing the oddball treats as disabled cookies quickly spread across social media with the hashtag #LoveAllCookies. Despite the overwhelming commercial success so far, there has been some backlash from disabled people who claim that the campaign is offensive and harmful. Disability advocate Aley Cade’s controversial tweet “wtf I am not a deformed cookie” is among many showing dissatisfaction with the campaign.
Girl Scout ambassador and future LinkedIn poster Sally McDonald responded, “Some people like the idea, some people hate the idea, but you can’t ever please everyone. I guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.”