Aunt Jemima to change name, remove stereotype image
By: MSN
And another piece of Americana bites the dust. Wonder if Mrs. Butterworth's bottle is going to change. Wanna change Cracker Barrel while we are at it?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Aunt Jemima to change name, remove stereotype image
The pancake syrup company Aunt Jemima is changing its name and imaging in the wake of renewed calls for racial equality.
© Provided by WXII 12 - LocalNewsRSS
The Quaker Oats-owned company said Wednesday that the iconic Aunt Jemima figure on its packaging is "based on a racial stereotype" and acknowledged that its prior work to update the character was "not enough."
"We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organization and the Black community to further evolve the brand," said Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, in a statement sent to USA TODAY. The move was reported earlier by NBC News and Adweek.
Shoppers will start to see new packaging at the grocery store without the Aunt Jemima image in the fourth quarter of this year. The company's new name for the syrup and other products will be announced soon after.
The brand was formed in 1889 after owners Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood developed the pancake mix. The character on the box was brought together and inspired by a Black storyteller and cook named Nancy Green, according to the company's website.
More than a century later, Aunt Jemima, who is said to have been born into slavery, no longer resembles a servant from the era. Quaker Oats bought the brand in 1926, and in 1989 swapped her red bandanna for pearl earnings and soft curls.
Still, the company's image with its Black servant origins has come under fire for perpetuating racist stereotypes.
The marketing shift comes at a time when big brands face increasing pressure to increase diversity efforts and combat racism in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The news comes one day after parent company PepsiCo announced a $400 million set of initiatives to lift up Black communities over the next five years. Part of the plan is to increase Black representation internally and to introduce mandatory training on unconscious bias.
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Sorry but this is just getting nuts. I don't know anyone black or white that even thinks like this is something terrible. Note the woman, in bold italic above, who is the name sake.
No worries. No self respecting progressive would use that poison anyway.
And what grievous harm would changing the name of Aunt Jemima pancake products do to you? This should be interesting.
1938 Aunt Jemima Pancake print ad
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The Aunt Jemima character is a house slave. Over the years, the character has encouraged the use of blackface.
Slowly picking away at history. And what fucking harm does an age old product's name do to you? I doubt anyone, or many, stopped buying the products because of the name or picture offended them even in these times of baiting. This should be interesting.
Why are you a snowflake? It will hurt your feelings to not see the name Aunt Jemima on a grocery store shelf anymore?
The name Aunt Jemima refers to a character that WAS CREATED to depict a happy slave "mammy". Now people see it as a negative racist stereotype and say good riddance. I still dont understand why getting rid of the name offends you.
What "history"? The history of breakfast food advertising? lol.
The pro-corporation right wingers are against anything a corporation does to keep making money?
This decision was purely profit driven and not political. All companies adjust their marketing to new standards when their customers change.
Bullshit. What do you think prompted these moves? Profit alone? I think not.
Doesn't offend me. Stupidity offends me. And this is an example.....................pandering.
Good Gawd man, times change and civil society changes along with the times.
Or hadn't you noticed that some of your other favorite, name brand products are becoming harder and harder for you to locate these days?
Ha, nice clap back. full of s.. but cheeky.
Complaining about losing Aunt J, or Uncle T., or any other product playing off black culture stereotypes needs calling out.
Just saying.
Never heard of any of them.
And your great grand kids will say the same about Aunt J. syrup without losing anything of value from their history.
We lost "Coon Cheese" in the grocery stores too.
Best Cheese I've ever had ….. but..... at Least "SOMEONE ELSE" is happy now. Fuck me !
I only heard of one of them. The Brazil nuts. One of my brothers friends (an African American) was over my house around Thanksgiving one year and he referred to them with the name in Old hermits post.
You are the delicate flower, complaining about a company changing its name because changing it offends your appreciation of "history". ROFL.
that was good cheese, I remember that
Ya it was. It was removed because of the name, even though it was the last name of the "American" that came up with a great way of processing cheese.
I guess, anyone that has what could be "Considered" an offensive to "someone else" last name, should be MANDATED to have a "Legal" name change too ?
I get a mixed assortment every year around the holidays too.
He wasn’t offended by the nuts and I wasn’t offended when we sat down to dinner and he told me he never had meatloaf before because only white people make it. He did say he was glad he tried it because it was good. ♀️
Why do you say it's a personal attack?
Your shtick is getting old again John.
Time to reinvent it ...... again .....
I'm old but I am sure that those products were before my time. What next, Uncle Ben's rice?
Indian corn?
Yep.....................
Not even the band?
Yes, profit alone.
Their customer's attitudes changed for political reasons, the company changed their marketing strategy for profit reasons only so as to maintain and not alienate their customer base.
Again bullshit. If their customer base was so offended, they would have stopped it long ago and given "due to a decline in sales". No where did that come up.
BLACKeyed peas?
Yup-- old, shut-in types.
Kind of like these folks:
Charlottesville Nazis Chant 'Jews Will Not Replace Us' Through Streets of #CVille 8/12/17
Check out the actual video-- not a single one is under 70!
/sarc
Damn, looks like not even the nazi's were rioting or looting.
That's some bad mojo on the ones that were ..... damn bad mojo!
By the same token, there is no important historical significance to the name of a product. Obviously many find it demeaning due to the slave reference and the lore associated with the name 'Aunt Jemima'. If Quaker wants to change the name and image, big deal, no harm. It is just a product brand.
Again, their customer base is changing now due to politics and current events. Customers attitudes did not change "long ago" in any way significant enough to effect profits.
Morning Paula. Yep announced it here Uncle Ben's rice is going. Interesting to see we can still get Coon cheese here. I always thought the word "Coon" was an Aussie slang racist term, but seems it is also used in the States. Moves are afoot here once again to get rid of it..Never buy it..Also they now what to change the State of "Victoria" where I live as it was named after Queen Victoria as that is our Colonial past..and New Zealand may no longer be called that but "Aotearoa"..Here the Kooris refer to anyone of Aboriginal heritage as "Aunty" and "Uncle" as a sign of respect, especially to the Elders and when they are facing the Koori court. It is also reported in the papers as such...But at the end of day it is history, it can't be changed as much as we would like to. But yes we can make changes to the present with respect and dignity for all...
What people? American corporations are totally intimidated by fuckin BLM. Nobody was making an issue of this. You went and dug for something from 1938. The pancake syrup has developed a brand name and a following since then. The current picture on the bottle isn't of a "happy slave "mammy", it's evolved into the wise aunt, so to speak, you know, the aunt that knows how to fill you up at breakfast. So if these cowards over at Quaker Oats change the name and picture - will their loyal customers still trust that the product itself is the same? I know I wouldn't. If I liked a rich pancake syrup with a long standing smiling woman's picture on the label, which has become associated with the product, and one day saw something radically different - I'd buy something else!
Stand up America to the scum!
lol. Defend to the death your right to have a house slave mammy name on the labels of your food stuffs. This is too much.
I'm out to stop the shit because after all the names and statues go, then it becomes easy. If they were all racists we don't need the Constitution they wrote either!
Coon Cheese is still available, you've just got to look around a bit for it.
If you don't like a product because of its name, don't buy it.
I never knew AZ had that slang term. I never understood its use in regards to black people to begin with. To me, it is short for raccoon as in "coon hunting" or a "coon hat". Is the term creamy still used there in regards to aborigines of mixed race?
Woolworth’s, when I was little there used to be a chain by that name. Part was a five and dime, part groceries. We would take the trolley with our Mom, she just loved the smoked whitefish they sold. Of course none of us would sit by her on the way home because of the smelly fish.
I remember the chain you're referencing but I believe that Woolworth's went out of business in the 90's?
The Woolworth's with the cheese for sale is just one of the supermarkets still carrying Coon Cheese, no connection to the old Woolworth's of lunch counter protest fame as best as I can tell.
As a kid, in the mid 50's, I spent a lot of my Summer days rambling up and down several blocks of Jefferson Blvd in Oak Cliff Texas.
Lots of little shops, places to eat, the Texas Theater, (made infamous as the place where Oswald was captured after he killed JFK), but back in the 50's one of the best treats of all was stop at the Woolworth's for a soda on a hot Texas summer's day because, at the time, that was the only store on the BLVD with " Refrigerated Air ".
They had a sign on the front window advertising their "Refrigerated Air" inside.
Lordy, I can still remember stepping out of the hot Texas sun and into that sweet chilled air, with it's hint of a chemical smell from the coolant of the time.
Since I wouldn't live in a home with air conditioning until the 60's those stops at Woolworth was truly a taste of heaven, (until I was 12 or so we just used a swamp fan Granddad made for the front window to help cool down the living room).
You were lucky. I didn’t have an air conditioner until I moved away from home in the early 80’s and it was just a one room window unit I bought with tip money from my waitress job.
I remember the lunch counter at Woolworths too. It was a very special treat when we had lunch there with mom.
Morning..No have never heard the term of "creamy" when referring to Kooris of mixed heritage...Put it this way, expect to get your head punched in now for any derogatory slur of anyone. It is no longer tolerated. The people that say it, just shows their complete and utter ignorance and they are an embarrassment to themselves...
I suppose the movie Zoolander will now stop showing on cable as there is a scene where Derek (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) were in black face to go undercover to get Maury's (Jerry Stiller) computer files.
I would never dare as I might get a Kangaroo bop for it.
Interesting woman.
Next, Uncle Ben's...
Oh FFS. Guess it's just me and Mrs. Butterworth now. We got a thing going on.
Are you telling us you won't buy the brand of syrup that doesnt have Aunt Jemima on the label anymore, even if you liked it?
That is weird.
I guess it will depend on how they rebrand it and whether I find it offensive or not./s
These days, a Huuuuge /S is needed, depending on what /s actually means to "Someone Else".
If ya don't explain it to "Someone Elses" satisfaction, ya might end up being called a "Racist", or in the extreme, ya might end up going to jail !
Kinda like the "What IS......IS" crap we already went through.
Did we ever settle what "Is"..... "is" ?
I just bought a bottle of AJ syrup and Mrs B syrup today. They will become collector's items eventually.
Uncle Ben's is too and I wonder if Cream of Wheat will do the same
Why would Cream Of Wheat change?
Now I get it.
And I guessed correctly
I am a blueberry syrup gal. I sometimes score it at the Cracker Barrel.
Cracker Barrel? I'm offended /s
Will some Cracker Jacks make you feel better?
LOL good one........................throw in some saltine "thin biscuits" and it's a deal
That is good cheese too
Win Schulers cheese spread. Good stuff and pretty sure it won't offend any crackers.
I can tell you are from Michigan. That's where I was born and lived for my first six years and even after moving to Indiana due to my father's job, we still managed to get the good stuff as we passed through Marshall on the way to my grandparents.
Yep .... bar scheeze .... good stuff. Seems every house had a crock of it.
Introducing "Whip Crackers! Muscle Pain Cream". It'll crack that whip and get those muscles back to work before you know it! Comes in eggshell and albino for even the whitest of skin!".
I'm not sure I see much difference between that farcical example and a slave on a bottle of syrup. Both are distasteful to those being represented so the kind thing to do is pick another name and mascot. Or perhaps just change the message and call it "Aunt Oprah's Rich Syrup!" "You get some pancakes, and you get some pancakes and you get some pancakes!" "Buttery Rich Syrup that will make you feel as wealthy as Oprah!". Totally different imagery of an empowered black woman instead of the slave/servant stereotype.
This is pretty simple really.
You don't like the label don't buy the product. Avert your eyes when you walk by it in the grocery store. Etc, etc. That's how its suppose to work in a truly free society. One persons delicate sensibilities don't get to automatically trash others. Unless you're a "progressive" mind i suppose.
Bitching about a syrup label is just progressive snowflakery at its best. Nothing more ..... but that said, put want you want on the label as far as i'm concerned.
You could put a picture of Bubba lying to the grand jury on it for all i care .....
I wonder if you'd feel the same if it was a breakfast cereal called "Clingers!" that had little marshmallow bibles and guns. I've been listening to the right wing complainers whine about that Obama comment for years while accusing the left of being "snowflakes" because they ask their politicians to use language that isn't offensive to minority groups. Or maybe a cologne called "Deplorables" that smells like shit and claims it will accentuate a persons inner xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny. All these right wing devotees railing against the "liberals with feelings" lost their fucking minds when Hillary called a narrowly defined portion of them "deplorable". I doubt many of them even knew what that word meant before she said it, they had to get "edumacated" by right wing radio so they could be incensed and outraged.
If a minority group, like right wing conservatives, prefer not to be called names and would call for a baseball team to change their names from the Houston Clingers or the Arkansas Deplorables, then perhaps they could have a smidgen of empathy for other groups who would like to see the name "Redskins" or "Aunt Jemima" changed to something less offensive. But I get it, some assholes are too self centered to ever think of changing what they're used to for anyone else's benefit, to do something out of empathy for others, or to treat others as you would like to be treated. I'm sure some can rationalize their stubborn ignorance as they fight any change not because they must have "Aunt Jemima" syrup for their flapjacks but because it's the principle of having to change to make someone else they are already hostile towards happy.
lol, I’m sure that’s supposed to be some sort of sanctimonious insult but you missed the mark again. Badly. I could care less so knock yourself out.
While you’re at it to be fair you should start an insult brand for the left as well. You could call it snowflakes. It could be vegan, gluten free, sugar free, fat free with no preservatives. It would be bland and taste like crap but have a shelf life less than a week so you better eat it fast.
You could make the box generic. A black box with a with white snowflake. Perfect.
Heaven on earth for your garden variety progressive.
Get the "Black Woman's" face off the bottle. That'll show 'em that "Black Lives matter" means business !
Now....how 'bouts that "Name". What will they do with that ?
So much for Black storyteller and cook Nancy Green. You're HISTORY is Bye, Bye !
More political correctness BS
The parent corporation has obviously determined that making this change is better for their public image and thus their profit margin, if they thought not changing would be as or more profitable they wouldn't change.
That being said Maple syrup is the best and the rest aren't worth the effort to buy
If they do change it, I will never buy the product again. I don't need a side order of PC to go with my flap jacks.
Paula that's fine and every consumer's choice to make and I have no doubt the corporation factored this sentiment into their calculations and determined that it would be more profitable to proceed with the change.
I have never bought and will never buy Aunt Jemima syrup so cannot comment on that personally. However I do like Uncle Bens rice (especially the long grained and flavoured varieties) and after they change their branding (and they will soon) I will continue to buy it because I like the taste, the packaging is unimportant to me.
I am not much of a rice person because mine never comes out right. On the rare occasions I do want it, I just go to local Chinese restaurant and get take out.
Good for you, i'm right there with you.
I use pure maple syrup anyway, i like the taste better and it is marginally better for you. Not as much artificial crap in it.
Some folks don't know Jack Shit !
Harland David Sanders
Colonel Harland David Sanders[a] (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand ambassador and symbol. His name and image are still symbols of the company. The title 'colonel' was honorary – a Kentucky Colonel – not the military rank.
Sanders held a number of jobs in his early life, such as steam engine stoker, insurance salesman and filling station operator. He began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in North Corbin, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. During that time Sanders developed his "secret recipe" and his patented method of cooking chicken in a pressure fryer. Sanders recognized the potential of the restaurant franchising concept, and the first KFC franchise opened in South Salt Lake, Utah in 1952. When his original restaurant closed, he devoted himself full-time to franchising his fried chicken throughout the country.
Progressive snowflakes are feeling their oats these days.
Working OT to find things that offend their delicate sensibilities.
What a shallow existence ......
Colonel Sanders was a confederate Slave owner...….
A "NEVER GIVE UP" kinda Guy. (see Comment#11/14 for context of comment #15)
Interesting .... i did not know that
Me either. I never understood the name to begin with as Popeye was big on spinach, not chicken.
I think it's an interesting roll of the dice from a business perspective. On the one hand, many customers - and I would guess, the producers themselves - will be pleased about not having this character associated with their product. That could be good for sales, except . . .
The brand recognition for this product line is huge. What are they going to change it to? Is there perhaps another African-american character they could use that would be more positive? Or maybe they make it a white woman instead. Would that actually alienate people of color? If they are just going to put out syrup and pancake mix with a generic marketing scheme, it will be like starting from scratch (so to speak).
Looks like the easily offended have finally gone full retard.
Aunt Jemima is the only brand name of pancake syrup I know the name of, everything else is store brand
Have the Uncle Remus Tales been burned or banned yet?
I certainly hope not Br'er Buzz.
Will the movie The Little Colonel (Shirley Temple) also be banned I wonder?
I have no doubt this scene got a lot of people rrled up back then.
It was like omg....a black man holding the hand of little white girl. Racists everywhere were getting the vapers. It caused quite the uproar with the viewing audience and the studio took a lot of heat over it.
I saw a post the other day from a man who was asked by his four year old "Why are his arms and legs so short?"
Kids say the most simple and entertaining things.................................
I took me a moment to figure out what the four year old meant, but now
Next they will go after George Foreman grills
I had one of those. I found that it dried out my steaks and burgers. It was great for bacon though.
I like Maple syrup...