Both hot cereal maker Cream of Wheat and syrup brand Mrs. Butterworth’s have confirmed they’ve initiated packaging reviews in the wake of PepsiCo’s bombshell announcement on Wednesday that it would retire Aunt Jemima after 131 years.
That was quickly followed on Wednesday by a statement from Uncle Ben’s, which said it is “evolving the visual brand identity.” A spokesperson said the brand is “evaluating all possibilities,” so it is unclear if the name Uncle Ben will remain.
Once again, this marks a dramatic shift for these brands’ corporate parent companies, who just two months ago had little or no comment on the mascots’ roots in nostalgia for slavery.
It comes in the midst of continued protests in the U.S. and growing support of the Black Lives Matter movement. A recent survey from nonpartisan think tank Pew shows two-thirds of U.S. adults now support the movement, with nearly 40% saying they strongly support it.
Cream of Wheat parent B&G Foods, which has owned the brand since 2007, did not respond to multiple interview requests in April about the chef that has appeared on its packaging since 1893. (Aunt Jemima predates him by only four years.)
Little information about the chef is available from the brand itself. In a blog post, however, Kirsten Delegard, co-director of the Mapping Prejudice Project at the University of Minnesota, said Cream of Wheat’s founder designed the packaging with a former slave he called “Rastus” after characters in the Uncle Remus books, which were first published in 1880.
According to a December 2000 essay by David Pilgrim, professor of sociology at Ferris State University, Cream of Wheat founder Emery Mapes, a former printer, found the image of a Black chef among his old printing blocks. This logo was used until the 1920s, when Mapes paid a Chicago waiter $5 to pose as the new chef.
One hundred years later, this image remains as arguably the most enduring example of the Uncle Tom stereotype in marketing. In his essay, Pilgrim writes that the caricature was born in defense of slavery: “How could slavery be wrong, argued its proponents, if black servants, males (Toms) and females (Mammies), were contented and loyal?”
Then, hours after Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s, B&G Foods released a statement.
“We understand there are concerns regarding the chef image, and we are committed to evaluating our packaging and will proactively take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racism,” it said. “B&G Foods unequivocally stands against prejudice and injustice of any kind.”
Similarly, Dan Skinner, manager of brand communications at Mrs. Butterworth’s parent Conagra, previously told Adweek, “We have never discussed Mrs. Butterworth’s race, religion or ethnicity, other than to say that she is ‘motherly’ and known the world over for her delicious syrup.”
She has, however, been compared to the Mammy stereotype with which Aunt Jemima is also synonymous. Actress Butterfly McQueen, who played the slave Prissy in the 1939 film Gone With the Wind, was reportedly the model for the original Mrs. Butterworth’s bottle, though Skinner said Conagra has nothing in its records that verifies McQueen’s role.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Skinner confirmed Mrs. Butterworth’s has initiated “a complete brand and packaging review.”
“The Mrs. Butterworth’s brand, including its syrup packaging, is intended to evoke the images of a loving grandmother. We stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown communities, and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking and unacceptable that racism and racial injustices exist around the world. We will be part of the solution.”
Credit: Adweek
Changing the name of white milk too!
Jimmy Carpenter cow or goat milk.
Cow juice
Such total bullshit..
ridiculous
Eskimo pie has just been brought to the chopping block as well !!
umm geez I think there are more important things to deal with in this world than making this change, why is this so important for them to do this
I can’t imagine being a big enough dork to care if some product changes its branding .
Maybe you would if your brand name was one hundred and thirty years old.
Nouvelle Mifsud nope. Get rid if it. Doesn’t affect my life in the least
Lenny Train the great grandson of the real Aunt Jemima is livid over them destroying her legacy. The “powers that be” don’t give a rat’s ass who or what they destroy!
Carol Benvin Bowers you’re right. Just like when he sued for back compensation because his great grandmother wasn’t paid what she was owed and the judge threw out the case because they couldn’t prove they were related
Carol Benvin Bowers and also… more quotes… “After making all that money —and now’s the time when black people are saying we want restitution for slavery — they’re just going to erase history like it didn’t happen? … They’re not going to give us nothing? What gives them the right?” Sounds more like we should boycott the brand until compensation is met
Lenny Train you will when younsee how much more money the items will be due to repackaging
Patricia Lorraine Zennario I still won’t care. I use more expensive maple syrup over the corn syrup
Carol Benvin Bowers hes a flake
Lenny Train ok , i like vegan myself, but dont you think this is going to far? All of us will pay one way or another whether we use those items or not
Patricia Lorraine Zennario i don’t. The brand has actively tried to downplay the racist connotations for years. It isn’t the Aunt J with the bandana from my youth anymore. Maybe it is time regardless of who the model was, for companies to stop profiting off of what has always been sketchy imagery. Pre revolution my family had a famous “Indian hunter” as he was called. Although we may acknowledge family history of the time and understand, we would never use him as the face of a long American legacy.
Lenny Train i think the woman who made it would be proud that everyone buys her product tho, even tho shes past. . I dunno, i just think its silly.
Patricia Lorraine Zennario they have changed the woman over the years though. How is rebranding any different?
Lenny Train the mega cost for repackaging, im not going to pay for that. But many will if they want that product. its just not that but many food items, uncle ben, eskimo pie, corn flakes and the list goes on. You cant get certain old movies anymore, everyone has thin skin. Im not offended by any of these things. Are you? Even. Farina
Patricia Lorraine Zennario have you noticed the price change during repacking before? Does the cost of coke change when they print hundreds of different names on the bottles every year. You’re taking miniscule numbers because once the design is set they’re just printing different labels
Lenny Train well i guess we’ll see. This world is a train wreck right now. Im very concerned as im sure many are.
Patricia Lorraine Zennario it is not more money for rebranding. Companies do it all the time. All it would be is a new graphic and a new label.
When clorox rebrand do you pay more money? The answer is no.
When crest puts a new carton on the toothpaste do you pay more? Again the answer would be no.
Kasmira Ferguson thank you. Just so frustrated with everything going on.
Patricia Lorraine Zennario it wasn’t her product.
Raheem Clark what??? Whose was it then, i read she made it no??
Patricia Lorraine Zennario no not at all.https://medium.com/@blackexcellence/aunt-jemima-it-was-never-about-the-pancakes-14a48a6523d
Look up some of the really early ads. Makes “gone with the wind look” progressive.
Raheem Clark wow
So sad
Cream of Wheat? Whatever, could probably need new branding
I hope we don’t have to rename “buckwheat pancakes’ too.. I like them— They are “Oh Tay”
Do they want to change the name of cracker barrel too ????.
Laurie Guenther-navarra I said the same thing. Lol
Laurie Guenther-navarra and Cracker Jacks
I thought Mrs Butterworth was a white Dutch woman ????♀️
Cathie B Smith yup. A little old granny
When we getting italian ladies off cans of sauce
Famous Amos???
Bill Thomas he’s the founder. Kinda different
Mrs. Fields?
It’s going to cost these companies millions of dollars to rebrand, we will all get stuck with a higher cost for the same items. So foolish.
Deborah Debby so then we don’t buy them. 😉
Actually it doesn’t. Companies do it all the time.
Kasmira Ferguson the average rebranding initiative costs up to 20% of the marketing budget.
Deborah Debby all they need is a new label. They will run out all product already on shelf. Its not millions of dollars but okay ????
I’m sure that liberals everywhere are thrilled that they have erased Nancy Greens success story. So much for racial equality.
Howard Vanderhoff wrong I’m a liberal and totally disagree with this.
Vicki Tartas It’s corporate marketing and you are the consumer. Either consume their products or don’t. You agreeing or disagreeing in rhetoric literally means nothing. Your opinion is voiced with your decision to consume or not.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2020/06/19/eskimo-pies-to-drop-derogatory-name-over-racial-insensitivity/amp/
Someone is angry over the word PIE?
Hahaha ????????????
Read about Aunt Jemima life story. Taking away a wonderful woman who was proud of this product.
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel same with Uncle ben
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel proud of high fructose corn syrup and “caramel color”?
Abby Smith the pancake batter was her first product.
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel I think you need a history lesson. And possibly a wake up call ❤️ possibly one not fueled by right wing media
Abby Smith just read a post about her and that she was the first black woman millionaire plus.
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel again, try articles and information from sources other than Fox News and right wing propaganda
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel you do realize the woman on the syrup is not the lady who portrayed her in real life. The lady on the bottle is based off a racist show.
Scott Therrien Soon to be Uncle Kens
Kasmira Ferguson you do realize that the great grandson is very upset over this?
Scott Therrien yes very upset that he couldn’t get compensation. You do realize that is not his great grandmother on the bottle? Its a depiction of a black mammy which is rooted in racism. If her actual picture was on the syrup it would be a completely different story. And did you even read the article her great grandson was quoted in where he said it wasn’t right if they don’t get compensated? ????♀️????♀️
Kasmira Ferguson guess you didnt read his comment.
Scott Therrien I read the whole article. You should read it again especially that last paragraph. Her history isn’t being erased. If it was actually her on the syrup bottle it would be completely different. They had her portray a character for years.
Scott Therrien
Evans suggested Quaker Oats and other “white corporations” that profited off of black characters should pay restitution rather than “erase history like it didn’t happen.”
That seems like he is more interested in the money then his great grandmother’s legacy. So if he got restitution then it would be okay??
Aunt Jemima is based on the common “Mammy” stereotype, a character in minstrel shows in the late 1800s. Her skin is dark and dewy, with a pearly white smile. She wears a scarf over her head and a polka dot dress with a white collar, similar to the common attire and physical features of “mammy” characters throughout history.[12] A character named “Aunt Jemima” appeared on the stage in Washington, D.C., as early as 1864.[13]
The inspiration for Aunt Jemima was Billy Kersands’ American-style minstrelsy/vaudeville song “Old Aunt Jemima”, written in 1875. Rutt reportedly saw a minstrel show featuring the “Old Aunt Jemima” song in the fall of 1889, presented by blackface performers identified by Arthur F. Marquette as “Baker & Farrell”.[8] Marquette recounts that the actor playing Aunt Jemima wore an apron and kerchief, and Rutt appropriated this Aunt Jemima character to market the Pearl Milling Company pancake mix in late 1889.[8][14]
However, author Doris Witt of University of Iowa was unable to confirm Marquette’s account.[15] Witt suggests that Rutt might have witnessed a performance by the vaudeville performer Pete F. Baker, who played a character described in newspapers of that era as “Aunt Jemima”. If this is correct, the original inspiration for the Aunt Jemima character was a white male in blackface, whom some have described as a German immigrant.[10]
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel exactly. They don’t understand or respect their own black history.
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/6/17/21294483/aunt-jemima-rebrand-stereotype
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel
It’s also unclear whether the black women who were hired to portray Aunt Jemima over the decades were properly compensated for their work. Descendants of Nancy Green and Anna S. Harrington — women who were selected by owners of the Aunt Jemima brand to develop the character — sued Quaker Oats in 2014 for unpaid royalties and damages, claiming that the women lent their likeness to the brand and even helped develop the pancake mix recipe. (PepsiCo did not find any formal contracts between Harrington, Green, or any other black women who professionally embodied Aunt Jemima, Smithsonian Magazine reported in 2014.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima
Maureen Coates thank you.
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel
Vincent Carmelo Neveroski thank you
Evelina Hertenstein Knechtel it wasn’t their history. It’s white stereotypical and racist imagery. White people are righting a wrong that should’ve happened a long time ago. They changed the images numerous times over the last century because it was so racist
Sounds like white liberals dont like to see people of color on food products.
Way to spin that ????????♂️
Ron Hynes way to speak the truth…
the Liberals are bringing this country way down ….WE HAVE TO VOTE RED !!!!! THROW OUT THE TRASH
Ben Bonafede Gtfo
Will Capriotti calm down Antifa
Will Capriotti lLIKE I SAID WE HAVE TO THROW OUT THE LIBERAL T R A S H !!!!!!!!!!!
New day coming .and its not Right Wing
Will Capriotti LOL..LOL..LOL..LOL…THATS WHAT YOU THINK !!!!!
Over breakfast items? Hahaha
Crackers?
Then I want Lucky Charms gone! It offends the Irish. ????
Laura Monica heard that one already
Does that go for Baily’s Irish Cream too?
Raheem Clark it was sarcasm, but okay.
Alex Ligg no, that is legit. Can’t do away with Bailey’s not Jameson, which my daughter is named for.
Raheem Clark
People sure are triggered over this
Duncan Brown i know. Triggered enough to cry until they actually take aunt jemima away?! What kind of useless person do you have to to care she is ona syrup bottle ????♂️
You need a hug, vinnny baby?
I’m here if you need me ❤️❤️
And now Eskimo pies too!
That’s just plain freaking stupid I don’t care what no one says. It’s freaking food It’s been around for decades if we get rid of food get rid of derogatory rap music using the word N@gg#… plain and simple same crap how could a food icon be offensive but not music that repeats the word over and over again?
Kel Ramos Garcia then why does it matter the picture, logo, name on the package are changed? It’s just freaking food
Erasing history was tried in a country in Europe in late 1930s early 40s…… hmm…..
OMG, shut up. This isnt history ya dope. These are consumer products. Ya dummy
It’s *systemic* not systematic genius.
I’m sure you can all get your pancakes and syrup with implied racial undertones somewhere else.
LOL
Kevin Karlick shut the fuck up donny! ????????????
Fucking liberals suck
STFU dope. This gets you upset?…You’re a special Snowflake, arent ya?..LOL
This page for News or opinions?
Can you give them all pacifiers…
So wrong after all these years I won’t buy them products now
Uncle Bens will soon be Uncle Kens (photo of Wilford Brimley )
I used to love those commercials when aunt Jemima started to move and talk… thought of her more like someone’s grandmother than anything derogatory
Grams used to make the best Belgian waffles
I wonder if Wonder will reinvent white bread? ????
Might as well take Mr Clean while you’re at it
If we call it cream of white or green ? Allowable? Maybe cream of shit.
Shit has many colors.
Teri Frank White SHIT is an acronym.. Ship Hot In Transit… Fecal matter comes in many colors… ????????????????
This has got to go #offended
Not even gonna touch this one
Brianna James lmfao. Right!! Remove it now. Lololol. This is insane. And Obama statue im offended!!????????
All Quakers should rise up!!
And why are Mr’s the only ones who clean….. what about the MRS? #getridofit
Its systemic racism… Not systematic
We are definitely heading backwards as a society.
What about cracker jacks and cracker barrel
Stop screwing up with our past. It is history good or bad… cartoons, food. Statues…. damn what’s left??????
People need to mind their own business!!!! All bc a bad cop killed someone. Not my clown not my circus! Wtf does syrup have to do with it? SANTA ???? says Ho Ho Ho and hes usually white. Omg I’m offended I want him tan! Stupid
Castillo April exactly! Years ago there was a 20/20 episode about Quaker Oats experimenting
on orphaned kids. Yet that didn’t matter but apparently they are owned by Pepsi???? I agree this is all madness with no real cause, seems more petty than anything
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/
Michael Ferrer yes! Its insane. And the whole white girl privilege stuff really? I was recently called that…i was like white girl privileged ummm no its called a white girl who works for everything she has and wants and not for nothing im spanish Spic as they say but guess what call me what you want im still not fighting with Spic and Span bc thats offensive. Its ridiculous!! And petty exactly ????
Castillo April I’m mixed. Puerto Rican and Russian. I grew up down near Coney Island; and the world looks a lot different from there. I doubt anyone ever went to the supermarket and were offended by these packages. I saw that the great great grandson of Aunt Jemima was very angry about the whole thing. And you’re right, there really isn’t “privilege ” for the average person, that is bullshit.
Michael Ferrer im mixed as well
Puerto rican,spanish( spain) and Irish. Grew up in toms river nj and yes your right totally different up there. No privileges there and never offended these pansies now are insane. Omg omg its brown,tan purple who cares! Its been like that way before you were born. Get over it
Castillo April ????
This is just mind blowing…this world is goin ta shit!!!
Leave them all alone. Crazy. We survived everyone will too now
I will not purchase if they change names
Bahhh all sheep!!! ???? ???? ???? ???? ????
Wasn’t it ISIS that cleansed the middle east? Or was it liberals in disguise? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_cultural_heritage_by_ISIL#Destroyed_heritage
Whats next we cant wear anything made from cotton? Will Michael Jordon stop being the spokesperson for Hanes? Will Webster remove the word Slave from the dictionary? Will Crayola get rid of the black crayon? I mean we could do this all day long. You can erase as much evidence of history you want however it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. We need to stop catering to snowflakes. ( oh crap did I offend someone)? Maybe they should give handouts on what each Race,Gender,Nationality, and Religion doesn’t like and we will refer to it when we want to speak.. Once we started giving participation medals and trophies this country went downhill. Parents hopefully your raising your children to know that unless you practice, work hard and have dedication you will be 20 yrs old still living in your parents house playing video games…
Lotsa snowflakes ITT. Yeah, I’m sure your threats of not buying re-branded items are keeping CEOs up late at night.
and why is this posted in this group?
This picture of black people on these products have family that get royalties on these products and Aunt Jemima was a cook for a family not a character like Sheryl on the Talk stayed.
What a crock!!!!
I ageee with you Evalina. The country is losing it’s mind..
Are they going to change the name or take the face off cracker Jack’s and change the name of white Castle now also this is crazy
This is such BS
Ok, yeah, sure, what’s next? Removing the “facial visuals” from kid’s cartoon characters and such so everything is just…what??? I kid you not.. just wait and see how far the few at the top are going to take this … they’re most likely just considering the “savings” in the production of less on the packaging and will be saving millions on it. If they truly ment to come from a place of care and concern they wouldn’t be doing it during a “very sensitive time” and creating an epidemic of another sorts.
Nothing bothered anyone for 131 yrs no one said a word now we’re taking down things of history, statutes, cartoons it’s ridiculous what’s next Jesus statues this has got to stop all of you I’m 67yrs old I don’t remember owning a slave and the rest of you did you own a slave I don’t think so let’s stop and get along with each other plane and simple
stupid ass shit
Eskimo pies are added! Just why?!
Totally rediculous!
Hey! Us descendents of Ireland demand the removal of lucky charms and the serving of car bombs…….only kidding we don’t care.
Don’t forget black friday…
Are you oc scanner or some kind of race train? I’m confused. I thought this was ocean county scanner news.
And not one mention of removing all the rap with “nigger” and murder in them. Seems a little odd.