Eskimo Pies to drop 'derogatory' name over racial insensitivity
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 5 years ago • 271 commentsBy: Ben Feuerherd (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Ben Feuerherd
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The maker of Eskimo Pies will change the 99-year-old brand name of the ice cream treat, the company said Friday — becoming the latest organization to overhaul the marketing of a product with a racially tinged moniker in recent weeks.
The owner of the Eskimo Pie, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, said in a statement they had been considering renaming the chocolate-covered ice cream bar and popsicle for some time.
"We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory," the company's head of marketing said in a statement.
"This move is part of a larger review to ensure our company and brands reflect our people values," the company added.
Along with the name change, the company will alter the treat's marketing scheme, which traditionally featured a young boy dressed as an Eskimo in a snowy environment.
The move comes after brands such as Aunt Jemima's syrup and Uncle Ben's rice have said they will would overhaul their controversial imaging amid online criticism.
Cream of Wheat, which features a black chef as their mascot, said Thursday they would review their marketing strategy.
"We understand there are concerns regarding the Chef image," said B&G Foods in a emailed statement, adding that they "are initiating an immediate review" of the cereal brand's packaging.
The shift in advertising comes amid widespread protests in America over police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.
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It does make you wonder why they still can't get the name Washington Redskins changed.
I don't spend my timing worrying about things I cannot change. The naming of some teams like Redskins and Chiefs were meant to show respect and admiration for American Indians.
Then along came self-loathing and guilt ridden liberals, wanting to rewrite and obliterate history by changing names, toppling statues, and banning books.
Greg,
I can buy that the name the Indians and the Cheifs were meant to be respectful, but not the Redskins. Sorry, naming a team after Indian scalps is not respectful and the owner knows it.
And please don't make a strawman argument out of this. None of these words re-write history, and I am not talking about statues (which I feel have their place, like in a museum) or banning books, which I don't believe in.
Yeah, that would be my folks. And no, since I am not a moron and know that they don't represent slavery. I am also not expecting plantations to come down either.
I am considering pulling a RL South Park, they did pull the trademark protection for the name and logo.
It is just icecream on a stick...
And they aren't really made by Eskimos.
And it isn't a pie.
I think we should help Dreyer's come up with a new name for them.
How about Yum-Yum Bars?
Snap Crackle Pop is racist too.
Let's just stop naming things. Too offensive. Everyone get a number, except what progressives determine are "racist numbers."
George Washington can be President One. Is President racist? Hmmm.
The important thing is we wipe from existence every mention of any person or culture to ensure no one (read rich, progressive white people) is offended.
So Sean, your OK if I call you a Mic or a Donkey? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Sure. I've been called a mick my entire life. Never thought to be offended by it. It's just a word. Offense depends on intent and context...
No Sane person sees an ice cream treat called an eskimo pie and thinks it's a racist insult. But by all means, let's wipe all references to eskimos from our vocabulary. Wiping all references of eskimos from popular culture will certainly keep paternalistic white people from being offended on their behalf as we ensure we are never reminded of their existence.
I agree 100%. But also, if someone means it to be offensive, then one should be offended. But those words were used by people who meant to insult. And I am sorry, but I have yet to find "Mic" brand potatoes or "Donkey" brand beer. When you can find the exact equivalency I'll be happy to have the discussion with you.
I find it really ironic (and a bit self-flagellating) that the word doesn't come from white folks, but from an Indian to Indian insult. Read what I wrote.
m sorry, but I have yet to find "Mic" brand potatoes
No but you can find lucky charms cereal and buy "fighting Irish" branded clothes. Calling a potato "Micks favorite Potato" would be a great idea. Wouldn't have a problem with it.
but from an Indian to Indian insult.
So what? It doesn't matter where the word comes from or meant hundreds of years ago in some other language. It only "means" what it's understood to mean and neither the makers nor consumers of the product take it as some sort of secret insult.
It's amazing how hard people work to find offense.
The Fighting Irish is not an insult and Lucky Charms as a term isn't either. Where is the offense, when the Irish themselves still believe in this folklore?
It's not a secret. It is well known in areas that they live. And as I said when I started this, I am not Inuit, so I can't speak for them. I have known Inuits and they dislike the word immensely.
I don't watch CNN or MSNBC.. maybe instead of trying to throw vague insults at me, you should look over your posts.
Fighting Irish is not an insult and Lucky Charms as
That's the point Perrie. Eskimo is not an insult in English. It's simply not. No more than the word Irish is. Or German or Italian. It's a neutral word used by Americans to describe an ethnic group.
That's all it is..
And you just made my point thank you. It doesn't matter to you, but it does to the Inuit. It is not a neutral word. It is a slur. It is not like using the word Irish German or Italian. It is akin to using the terms Mic, Krout or Guinea. Get it now?
True.
And even beyond not being an insult-- it seems to me its an actual compliment!
About Notre Dame's football team:
The school claims 11 national championships, but the NCAA recognizes them with 13.
Moreover, Notre Dame has 21 national championships recognized by all major selectors; this is tied with Alabama for the most in the FBS.
Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Ohio State share the record of seven Heisman Trophy winners.
Notre Dame has produced 102 consensus All-Americans, 34 unanimous All-Americans, 52 members of the College Football Hall of Fame, and 13 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, all NCAA records.
Notre Dame has had 495 players selected in the NFL Draft, second only to USC.
And there's more HERE.
Insulting the site owner is akin to poking a hornet's nest with a stick. You might think it is a good idea at the time but it can end up biting you on the butt.
Enough is enough already. It's not like they are made from real Eskimos.
From The Adams Family movie when a girl scout asked Wednesday to buy her cookies.
"Are they made from real girl scouts?"
This is just more progressive craziness.
Nothing more.
Sparty,
I have no idea why they are changing their name other than their statement:
So it doesn't seem that there was a request to do so. Maybe they were just trying to be nice.
Perrie,
Big picture, in the scheme of things I’m not really slain by whatever the reasons are. That said, it’s a free country, they are free to change whenever they want for whatever reason they want. I really could care less.
But this PC stuff is beyond out of control imo.
Where does the craziness stop? I tell you where. It doesn’t.
Sparty,
SO again I'll ask you, what is your background?
And this is not about PC. PC is fake. We should all be able to take a joke. I did a whole article about this. This is about when something is known to be offensive and then disrespected.
So I'll ask again, what is your background?
enough of this silly BS already. Next they will try to tell us that we can't order black coffee if we don't want cream and sugar in it
That is how you would have order it....coffee, no cream or sugar.
The speakers in the McDs drive through [example only... all those speakers / headphone set-ups are terrible] are terrible and someone may hear ...cream... sugar. So, they add those things when you don't want them. Believe it or not... it's happened to me before.
So no. I love how all the non-Indians are experts on the word Eskimo. It is an Iroquois word that means "blubber eater", which was meant as an insult. Inuits (which their real name) is the proper Algonquin word for the tribe. Now I am not sure if the Inuits made this request or not, but saying that the word is not meant as an insult is wrong. It is. That wiki page needs to be updated.
Perrie, I think you have my comment confused with someone else's comment.
There is nothing in what I posted that says the word is not an insult. To the contrary.
I didn't say you did. I'm just trying to explain. And honestly, I don't know if this was a request by the Inuit, or if the company just decided to change the name.
The fact is that they indeed do eat blubber as part of their diet. I tried it when I lived in Alaska and I didn't like it all that much.
This is true, Paula, but the Japanese eat a whole lot of fish, and we don't call them Sushi.
Point well taken.
When I lived in Alaska, people (military mostly) called the Natives "skimos". Now that's offensive
A musical genius! Plus he really knew how to name his kids ....
anyone offended over eskimo pies needs to check themselves into a mental institution.
without exception.
And what are you, my keyboard warrior? What is your background?
nothing I said was debatable
and your post is off topic.
No, your post is meant as an insult (and btw unless you have either a PhD or an MD in psych you can not make that DX and from that post, I can tell you are not) and mine is very much to the point.
my keyboard warrior
Chief Sticky Keyboard?
if that is how it works?
unless you have a PhD or MD you are not qualified to refute my statements made above
.
I have stayed off this seed for personal reasons.
But now, since people are insisting to continue , I am going to say something.
When the ice cream company named the thing Eskimo Pie 99 years ago, we can be sure they didnt care AT ALL about what the indigenous people the Inuit thought about it. They might as well have been cigar store Indians for all the ice cream company cared.
Today, there are only 148,000 of these arctic region inhabitants IN THE WORLD. Only 16,000 in the US. . They are not a large enough group to either be a market for the ice cream or to influence a boycott of the name.
Evidently the name "eskimo" is offensive to some of these natives. So the ice cream company is belatedly doing the right thing and changing the name of the ice cream bar.
Its not that fucking complicated.
Personally I find it refreshing that a corporation will do something like this without being faced with a huge adversary with a lot of high powered groups behind it.
Great post John.
thank you
I guess this means Eskimo kissing is out?
Well, Inuit kissing is quite in.... and you're looking kind of.....oppps never mind.
Well....now what do I tell this poor puckered pup....? ??
Hey, give me some credit! I ditch the cigar when there is even the smallest chance of Eskimo kissery on the horizon.
I'm sorry..... I'm a bit hard of hearing. Did you say you ditch your bra or cigar before... The devil is in the details.
too cute!
I wonder if the movie Ford Torino will be banned because there are a number of ethnic slurs spoken in it like "gooks", "mic", :"Poelock" etc.
Even THESE have been used as a racial connotation - is it time to do a total remake on the English language?
Buzz,
The movie was Grand Torino and that is one of my all time faves.
Oooops! I should have known better. You DO recall all the racial slurs in it, alhough most of them were made in jest and were not taken seriously.
The King Of Movie Trivia here just got busted LOL.
It was completely crass but I think he was portraying how someone that may be racist can change their stance just by getting to know someone.
Sometimes there are more similarities than differences.
Good observation and analysis.
I guess that All In The Family won't air any longer either.
So then, Inuit Pie?
Is that an invitation?
How about Arctic Pie, or Polar Bar (a play on polar bear?). Maybe those already exist.
I think there is already a product called Polar Bear. If I remember correctly it is an ice cream square covered in chocolate.
I think it's actually "Polar Bar"
This is a Polar Bear
Unless it happens to be a restaurant
Or is this what you mean?
Yes. That one. My memory was iffy at best in regards to the name of the product.
But it isn't a pie. Then again cheesecake is not a cake.
Wait a minute - WHO is gonna eat an ice cream bar with a friggin' spoon????????
Ain't ya got no class????
Or you pull a Mr Pitt and eat it with a knife and fork ......
I hear you. That’s like eating a snickers bar with a knife and fork. Sheesh!
Everyone was doing it.
It depends on how much it has melted.
I know. A great episode!
They are all good. As I go about my days it’s amazing how many times I can say there is a Seinfeld episode about that.
I know, the depth of some of those half hour episodes is amazing. One of my favorites was the ugly baby episode. You had the following story lines being woven together at the same time, ugly baby, Kramer stealing lobsters, shrinkage, tomatoes George has to have, topless George’s girlfriend and he’s the only one who missed it and George intentionally poisoning his girlfriend. And I might be missing some more .... crazy good!
The Hampton tomatoes. On the way home George gets pelted with them from his girlfriend.
If that ice cream bar is melting, I sure would not throw it out. You better believe I would use a spoon.
shrinkage
This one?
"I was in the pool!" (George)
I know, its a fantastic episode.
The reactions to the ugly baby are classic!
The soup Nazi is my favorite although I am sure that the episode in today's climate won't air again. Some of my favorites are with Elaine and Putty (sp) like when she took the Jesus Fish off of his car and changed all his radio stations that were set to gospel music.
Lol Puddy .... he was hilarious .... their interactions were priceless.
Do you remember when Elaine put her fingers to her forehead like they were horns and yelled I think "Devil!" at him?
Yup, good stuff
Don't both Trump and DeBalzio eat pizza with a knife and fork? To each their own when it comes to food. No matter how you eat it, tastes just as good. My roomie in college loved rocky road ice cream but never used a spoon. She would use a plastic ruler.
They shrink? Hummm
I don’t know how they eat their pizza. When I make it at home I sometimes have to use a knife and fork, it’s so full of delicious sauce, cheese and toppings, you almost have to.
I am still against eating snicker bars with a knife and fork though, I don’t care if it does taste the same. 😀
Shrink?
According to George they do.
The human body is truly amazing. Built in "alarms" that tell you it's cold.
Men - cold water causes shrinkage of the.........well you know
Women - On come the "headlights"
This is supposed to be funny so please take it with the humor that was intended .But it is true
I get it. I was just repeating Elaine when she asked, they shrink?
And then she sez some thing like this:
I don't know how you guys walk around with things ..... more jocularity
Shrinkage is why god gave whales, seals, etc an iggigick so that they can mate.
That's a Klondike Bar
I like to put my Klondike Bar in a bowl, cover it with caramel syrup and eat it with a spoon
I say just... Alaska Bar.
What about ice cream drumsticks? Do they change because vegans, turkeys, and chickens might be offended?
I heard they want to change the name of PopTarts.
Prostitutes that dress like pop stars are offended.
Check #20.1.4 - Soup For Sluts.
Since the left is trying to erase their history with owning slaves, founding the KKK and now trying to topple statues of their ancestors, should we also try and erase these people from history?
This same type of letter may have been sent a thousand times from a slaveholding father to his slaveholding son in mid nineteenth century American South. But William Ellison and his son, Henry Ellison, were different. William Ellison was African American, born into slavery in April of 1790 with the name April Ellison to a slave mother and white slavemaster father, Mr. William Ellison. As a young man he was apprenticed to a cotton gin maker rather than working in the fields and allowed to keep a portion of the wages he earned for his master and father, money that he later used to purchase his freedom. At the same time, he changed his name to William Ellison, after his father, to fit in with higher society. After purchasing his family, he moved to Sumter County, South Carolina and hired out other free African Americans to work in his cotton gin shop. While working, he discovered a common problem among freed slaves in the South. The expense of wages left him with a profit that would never compete with what slaveowners were earning. Wanting to move up in society, he purchased his first slaves in 1820.
By 1850, Ellison had 37 slaves while his sons owned another 16. He was one of about 180 black slave masters in South Carolina at the time, most of whom were former slaves themselves.
"The left" didn't. The right did. And back then, Democrats were the right.
Revisionist history...
Fail
Your proclamation does not make it so.
Do you actually think that that's a major problem?
Major corporations change names of many products all the time! (Surprised you didn't know that...)
I agree to a point.
Like i said earlier they can change their products names at any time and for any reason but this age of PC and sensitivity is getting too be way over the top for me. I'd love to know how many fully blooded Inuits are bothered in the least by the name of an ice cream bar.
I bet that percentage is very, very low.
I just wonder how many would start caring if a product was called Whitey Wanker Dick Fixer or PWT (Poor White Trash) Cider?
Most likely at lot less than a product called Blackies Boner Elixir or PBBR (poor Black Brothers ripple) wine
You can keep the white on rice as well. No skin off my cashew chicken.
Let's see whose post stays up longer and that should give you your answer.
I actually saw this product for a male enhancer - Horney Goat Powder.
This is just one of the crazy names in this link. Check it out for a few good chuckles.
LMAO!
That is racist.
I think not.
Where is the NAACP when you need them?
The NAACP is OK with this. Complainers are the KKK and Aryan Nations!
True dat .... in progressive bizarro-land that is .....
Take your grievances to the Quaker Oats Company and Mars Inc...
Lighten up Francis. It was a tongue in cheek post FFS.
NOTE TO SELF - Stop drinking anything when you post memes. I am running out of Windex for my monitor.
Oatmeal with maple syrup? That actually sounds pretty good. But it needs brown sugar, too
I thought about chiming in, but I think both sides are covered enough. I've never been much for PC. Hate racism in all it's forms, but the PC crowd is often reaching for things to whine about.
And I thought that not being able to call a below street entrance cover a manhole was ridiculous.
That one I was not aware of. What is wrong with manhole covering? It is essentially a cover for a man made hole for workMEN to access what is below the street.
There was a city in California I think that changed anything that has/had gender specific nomenclature. yep
Do MEN AT WORK signs become PEOPLE AT WORK? Is anything listed a MAN MADE become PEOPLE MADE? I am a staunch supporter of my state, but this is a bit much.