Aunt Jemima Brand to vary Name and Image Over ‘Racial Stereotype’
Quaker Oats, which owns the 131-year-old brand, said it had been making the packaging changes because it worked “to make progress toward racial equality.”
The Aunt Jemima brand, founded in 1889, is made on images of a Black woman that a lot of see a logo of slavery.Credit...Daniel Dorsa for The ny Times
Aunt Jemima, a syrup and pancake mix brand, will get a replacement name and image after Quaker Oats, its parent company, acknowledged that the brand’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.”
The brand, founded in 1889, is made on images of a black female character that have often been seen as a logo of slavery. Aunt Jemima has skilled several redesigns; pearl earrings and a lace collar were added in 1989.
On Wednesday, Quaker Oats, which is owned by PepsiCo, said that it had been taking “a hard check out our portfolio of brands” because it worked “to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives.” The packaging changes, which were first reported by NBC, will begin to seem toward the top of this year, with the name change coming soon after.
“While work has been done over the years to update the brand during a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes aren't enough,” said Kristin Kroepfl, Quaker’s chief marketing officer, during a statement.
Amid nationwide protests over racism and police brutality in recent weeks, many companies rushed to precise their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, often running into accusations of hypocrisy. But PepsiCo was already conversant in the fallout: In 2017, it apologized for running a billboard featuring Kendall Jenner, a white model, that was criticized for trivializing the movement.
PepsiCo bought Quaker Oats in 2001, inheriting the Aunt Jemima brand. Ramon Laguarta, the chief executive of PepsiCo, wrote in a piece of writing in Fortune in the week that “the journey for racial equality has long been a part of our company’s DNA.”
The Aunt Jemima brand was inspired by a minstrel song called “Old Aunt Jemima” and was once described by Riché Richardson, an professor of African-American literature at Cornell University , as “an outgrowth of Old South plantation nostalgia and romance grounded in a thought about the ‘mammy,’ a faithful and submissive servant who eagerly nurtured the youngsters of her white master and mistress while neglecting her own.”
Last week, the glorified depiction of slavery in “Gone With the Wind,” including a portrayal of an affable black character named Mammy, led HBO Max to temporarily remove the film from its catalog.
Quaker Oats said in its statement that Aunt Jemima’s marketing had “evolved over time with the goal of representing loving moms from diverse backgrounds who want the simplest for his or her families,” but that it might gather more perspectives internally and from the black community to further shape the brand.
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Tiffany Hsu may be a media reporter for the business desk, that specialize in advertising and marketing. Previously, she covered breaking news . Before joining the days , she wrote about the California economy for The l. a. Times. @tiffkhsu
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