Member of the European Parliament Karin Karlsbro and a number of journalists have criticized Benjamin Ingrosso, one of Sweden’s most popular singers, for his advertising collaboration with Marabou, a chocolate brand owned by U.S. snacking giant Mondelez International, which continues its operations in Russia.
“What do you think when you advertise for Marabou? A company that has chosen to stay in Russia and contribute to Putin’s war chest,” Karlsbro asked, as reported by Aftonbladet.
She also invited Ingrosso to join her on her next trip to Ukraine. “I wonder if you would like to join me the next time I go to Ukraine to witness firsthand how the Ukrainian population is suffering from Putin’s war, and how your advertisement is also helping to finance it. Are you in?”
Last year, several Swedish companies and organizations decided to boycott Marabou products due to its parent company’s continued operations in Russia. Among those who stopped purchasing from Mondelez were SJ, SAS, the Swedish Armed Forces, Stordalens Strawberry, and the Swedish Football Association.
“Anyone who didn’t stop supporting Marabou after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 should now take the opportunity to reconsider,” said journalist Lisa Bjurwald, who also criticized Ingrosso in her article for VLT.
Journalist Patrik Oksanen remarked: “As an artist, you have to think about what you want to support in the most serious security policy period since the Second World War.”
As Expressen writes, Oksanen has called on Ingrosso to donate the earnings from his Marabou/Mondelez partnership “to Ukraine’s struggle for survival and freedom.”
Aftonbladet journalist Jonna Sima accused Ingrosso of helping Mondelez to “warwash” their chocolate, while her colleague, Aftonbladet’s political editor-in-chief Anders Lindberg, stated that Ingrosso should apologize for the advertisement.
PR strategist Edit Künstlicher remarked in the Resumé magazine that “Marabou is using perhaps Sweden’s most brilliant star to wash its dirty laundry.”
Benjamin Ingrosso has not commented on his collaboration with Marabou and the criticism.
The B4Ukraine Coalition calls on Mondelez International and all other international companies still doing business in Russia to drop their keys and leave the market of the aggressor state, therefore depriving the Russian government of an important source of war financing.