Turn the pancakes when they begin to bubble and the bottoms are golden brown. Aunt jemima s image and name are being retired in a major branding shift that comes weeks into the rising swell of racial justice announcements from companies following the killing of george floyd. Quaker oats a subsidiary of pepsico which owns the 130 year old brand that features a black woman named aunt jemima who was originally dressed as a minstrel character.
Growing up we ate aunt jemima cornmeal for cornbread sadza fufu and used the pancake mix syrup too. I have some ideas on people who would be good replacements for aunt jemima and uncle ben s u s a. It only took a national uprising and a viral tiktok to make the company behind aunt jemima realize that the 130 year old character which was inspired by.
The brand will get a new name and image. The satirical newspaper the onion appears to have been onto something as the outlet tweeted about the removal of breakfast food mascot aunt jemima hours before it was announced that she will be. Early aunt jemima logos featured various crude renderings of a dark skinned woman wearing a headscarf the design clearly influenced by.
A replacement name will be brought in some time after. Behnken says her products were depicted being used by white families to give the. For awhile there was a disneyland restaurant called aunt jemima s pancake house replete with a costumed hostess.
Her product was a sponsor for mid century variety shows on radio and television. Aunt jemima s old ads often included slogans in broken english. Although depictions vary over time they are similar to the common attire and physical features of mammy characters throughout history.
Her skin is dark and dewy with a pearly white smile. Aunt jemima is based on the common enslaved mammy archetype a plump black woman wearing a headscarf who is a devoted and submissive servant.
