Quaker Oats Renaming Aunt Jemima Brand Since the ‘Origins are Based on a Racial Stereotype’
“As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations.”
Quaker Oats, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, decided to change the name and image of its popular brand Aunt Jemima.
The company said that “Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype.”
Everything has come under fire after the death of George Floyd.
I wonder if people even know that “Aunt Jemima was first ‘brought to life’ by Nancy Green, a black woman who was formerly enslaved and became the face of the product in 1890.
From NBC News:
The picture has changed over time, and in recent years Quaker removed the “mammy” kerchief from the character to blunt growing criticism that the brand perpetuated a racist stereotype that dated to the days of slavery. But Quaker, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, said removing the image and name is part of an effort by the company “to make progress toward racial equality.”
“We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype,” Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, said in a press release. “As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations.”
Kroepfl said the company has worked to “update” the brand to be “appropriate and respectful” but it realized the changes were insufficient.
Quaker Oats announced that the image of Aunt Jemima will be removed from all packaging and the brand’s name will be changed. @SheinelleJones reports on the move that comes amid rapid cultural change in the country. pic.twitter.com/76a3hC64rM
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 17, 2020
[Featured image via YouTube]
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Comments
Time to start packaging everything in a brown paper wrapper.
Hiccup.
Nancy and Hillary approve.
Not brown. That’s racist.
Breaking News
Life is Racist.
As Racist as BLM ANTIFA and their Slave Masters in the Democrat Party…….
So Apparently you can only have white people on your syrup now? Mrs Butterworth, Vermont Maid, wasn’t there one with a lumberjack too?
Leftist Executives announced today that the brand’s will be renamed Uncle Adolph’s Rice and Aunt Adolpha’s Pancake Mix.
Actually, wokeness is affecting the Vermont Maid brand as well…
https://share.getcloudapp.com/rRuloO1p
Kunta Kinte wrapping paper is also approved.
I suppose this means that the fate of Uncle Jemima’s Mash Liquor is also sealed,
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZr9kHEWEAA0Qwg.jpg:large
Enjoy the video before the left takes all the fun outta life,
https://vimeo.com/182715131
Too late, the fun is gone from life. ☹️
Well, I stopped buying it a long time ago, High fructose corn syrup
The insanity will never stop
Maybe call it Aunt Cracker?
Exactly, adulterated syrup, trans-syrup, alt-syrup, why? Go with the original for taste, texture, and nutrition.
Aunt Antifa.
with high fructose corn heroin.
Aunt Trannie-Fa……..
Aunt Rachel.
Aunt Karen.
Uncle Ben’s! No… Maybe not.
Diversity? Et tu, pancakes?
Betty Crocker disapproves.
In the original London version of “Cats” there was a character named Jemima, who also appeared in the 1998 direct-to-video made of a version of the stage show.
However according to Wikipedia the character was initially renamed “Sillabub” when “Cats” was staged in the U.S.
If Quaker has ever sold the product in the UK I have a feeling they won’t change the name over there unless some American Karen comes back from a vacation over there and pitches a fit.
Mary Chastain: I wonder if people even know that “Aunt Jemima was first ‘brought to life’ by Nancy Green, a black woman who was formerly enslaved and became the face of the product in 1890.
Aunt Jemima was based on a common minstrel character, the mammy, usually played in blackface. The terms uncle and aunt were used because blacks weren’t accorded the privilege of Mr. or Mrs.
So can they change her name to Ms. Jemima and be done with it?
Oh baloney. It’s common to call close family friends Aunt This or Uncle That, especially when kids are little. Nothing to do with the amount of melanin in one’s skin.
Well said. Aunt/Uncle is a term of respect.
Correct!
Sure. Right.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a20c302f252415a1cc588cd54d2e5c7625ba1823/c=0-6-354-478/local/-/media/USATODAY/None/2014/10/06/1412628706000-1915AuntJemima.jpg
What about other labels of that same time span… and was that during the time Green either owned or promoted the product?
Green sold her successful business , stayed on as a product personality and was one of first Black millionaires ..in this case a woman. So, right, dump on a woman of color in her day being as successful as an Oprah today. You are a worthless fool with your attempt to shame her. That is bigoted and …and…racist. Go sulk somewhere else since you can’t acknowledge Black success.
The Mammy of the white gentry were respected and feared by all in the household; equal in rank to a majordomo.
Zora Neale Hurston recounts how she was steamrolled by a Mammy in her book Dust Tracks on a Road.
Get her ebook for free at fadedpage.com.
This is a hometown product for me. It started in my hometown. One of my neighbor’s family company invented this product and later sold the company to Quaker Oats. (The syrup is just a brand extension.) The pancake mix is the original product. So it goes they way of Land-O-lakes, etc. When I needed it I bought Aunt Jemima. Now it is just a corporate blur.
Henceforth it will be Society of Friends Oats.
Are we capable of admitting that once in a while, an allegation about the racial insensitivity of a logo or product name has some basis in fact?
We honor people… persons with facial and name recognition. Is there evidence that the pancakes were motivated by diversity?
I agree.
Google is Racist.
NBC is Racist.
DNC is Racist.
BLM is Racist.
Antifa is Racist.
And on and on…. Anything and everything connected to the Left is totally Racist.
I agree.
Google is Racist.
NBC is Racist.
DNC is Racist.
BLM is Racist.
Antifa is Racist.
And on and on…. Anything and everything connected to the Left is totally Racist.
You can say THAT again! ;-{)}}}
but haven’t they modified the image over the years to address such concerns?
Yes, they have — and good for them. My only point was that sometimes, a complaint about racial insensitivity does have merit.
BTW, one of my reasons for saying this is that I’m a missionary in a Latin American city where one of the local brands of coffee is “Conquistador”, and the statue in the central park (until not that long ago) was of the city’s Spanish founder, dressed in full Conquistador-model armor. The local Indian population is still quite despised by non-Indians.
So . . . what’s the end-game here? To expunge all graven images of Americans who happen to be black from the American landscape? This strikes me as counterproductive, rather than merely revisionist.
Pretty soon we won’t even be able to object to this attempt to whitewash our history because “whitewash” has the word “white” in it.
Demands to rename the White House in 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . .
I’m thinking along the same lines. Wrote this comment elsewhere:
If businesses had started spontaneously removing black people from products and advertising, the Left would be complaining of the “systematic eradication of African Americans from the public’s consciousness by racist, white-owned corporate America.”
This has a parallel in the sports world. If all team names that referenced people had “white” names (like “Vikings,” “Celtics,” “Trojans,” and “Fighting Irish”) and never had teams like “Redskins,” “Seminoles,” and “Indians,” minorities would be complaining that they weren’t represented in team names because of racial prejudice that regards minorities as “timid and under-achieving.”
the original was made rich off Aunt Jemima. She was funded anti-poverty program with her own money and status. THes models should be held up are role models not thrown under the bus.
Well, there goes the most famous icon from my home of Marlboro County, SC.
Anne Short Harrington moved from Wallace, SC to Syracuse, NY and got a job cooking for a fraternity house. The Quaker Oats Company discovered her in 1935 and she became the face for Aunt Jemima. She toured the country promoting Aunt Jemima and had her own television cooking show.
I am sure shehad no problem being Aunt Jemima but her family will surely have a problem with the loss of royalties from her image.
They better not come for the Oreos!
I wonder if the modern cultural stereotypes that exist today will be considered racist in 100 years.
It seems like Quaker is expressly abandoning the mark. So, why wouldn’t some generic syrup maker start making Aunt Jemima Syrup? A public announcement of discontinuation of use would seem to fall squarely with 15 USC 1127:
Per 15 USC 1127 A mark shall be deemed to be “abandoned” if either of the following occurs:
(1) When its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use. Intent not to resume may be inferred from circumstances. Nonuse for 3 consecutive years shall be prima facie evidence of abandonment. “Use” of a mark means the bona fide use of such mark made in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark.
(2) When any course of conduct of the owner, including acts of omission as well as commission, causes the mark to become the generic name for the goods or services on or in connection with which it is used or otherwise to lose its significance as a mark. Purchaser motivation shall not be a test for determining abandonment under this paragraph.
Aunt Jemima, 1915
You keep posting this, Karen with a mustache. What’s your point?
If the artwork was approved by the black woman who founded and ran the company, who the heck are you to substitute your whitebread art judgment for hers?
uncle bens rice next up.
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1273332941029101575
not heard if cream of wheat will kill rastus or not.
grr messed up rastus was removed many in 1920s had to refresh memory and read wikipedia wrong.
Frank L White present face.
Simple to fix. Make the character an obvious tran-sexual with a male name.
Subotai Bahadur
Hey Aunt Yamamma will be the face of the pancake mix!!! No problem. I’ll even wear the neckerchief .Let’s talk about my salary….
Pancake Makeup?
The Onion – Tomorrow’s news today:
https://www.theonion.com/quaker-oats-replaces-historically-racist-aunt-jemima-ma-1844015205
I would suggest plain brown wrappers, but that too would be racist. Whatever happened to Uncle Ben? (rice).
I’m really enjoying the dream but as it keeps finding new ways to be surreal I think I want to wake up now.
“Let us make it clear that Sheila never serves the pancakes herself, but now and then goes to a diner near the courthouse where waitresses and waiters of a variety of races serve them to her.”
How privileged!
May I suggest “Cousin Sissy” as the new brand name?
No picture, that’d be racist no matter what pic you used.
Well Uncle Ben’s Rice will be rebranded as well. I think they should rename it “Uncle Joe’s Rice”. After all Slow Joe Biden is whiter than white.
As for Aunt Jemima, times do change. Back in the 1950s the makers of Aunt Jemima sent black women out to small towns to organize charity pancake feeds. One such lady came to Walla Walla Washington when I was in grade school there.
First the Land O’ Lakes native maiden, now Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. Who goes next, Mrs. Weinberg’s Chopped Liver?
And you can’t put any Aunt Jemima syrup on your stack of pancakes from Sambo’s anymore.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/companies/whatever-happened-to-sambo-e2-80-99s-in-cleveland-last-remaining-restaurant-changing-its-name/ar-BB15hTZk
Bet it still won’t stop all the hand wringers from calling Candace Owens “Aunt Jemima,” though.
Leftists seek to hold on to racial stereotypes at every opportunity. They harbor special, intense hatred for blacks who refuse to live on the Democrat/Leftist/Progressive plantation.
They have absolutely no problem with house Negroes like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and other race baiters, who in turn make a pretty penny stirring up crap while their “brothers” in the hood bear the brunt of decades of failed D policies.
How come Princess Buffalo Schitt (D-MA) hasn’t been called on the carpet for having an Aunt Jemima figurine on top of her cupboard in her “I’m gonna get me a beer” video?
My great-great grandmother’s name was Jemima. She had a lot of nieces and nephews. Wonder what they called her?
And her dad’s name was John Pancake. He was a Captain in the state militia. They called him Captain Pancake.
True story. 😉
Good thing he wasn’t in the RI Militia, they would have called him Captain Johnny Cake.
I guess the racial stereotype is that black woman supposedly know how to cook good meals and they shouldn’t be associated with that because its bad?
Who’s being racist?
Good cooking is a racial stereotype. Got it.