Sarotti

History

81. A second chocolate factory was opened in Hattersheim, Hesse. After a shift in majority ownership, this plant merged into Nestlé. It appeared on chocolate bars and blocks and became widely recognized. Gipkens was hired to create the icon for Sarotti’s 50th anniversary. Several explanations exist for the design; Gipkens pointed to the company’s location on a street whose name translates to Blackamoore Street, while scholar Silke Hackenesch noted that images of black slaves and servants were widespread at the time. The Nazis had mixed feelings about the Sarotti-Mohr, seeing its exotic look as un-German but valuing its colonial references. During the Nazi period, though it appeared with a swastika on some packaging, it was rarely seen in public because chocolate was not widely eaten. After World War II, the figure became very popular. At some fairs, Afro-German children were hired to act as a live Sarotti-Mohr. Starting in the 1990s, the mascot faced growing criticism for being racist. The brand remains known only in Germany.