Aunt jemima will officially be replaced and the brand renamed amid public outcry surrounding its name and logo being based on a racist stereotype. Separately food company mars said it will review uncle ben s rice another controversial brand and black character. Along with dropping the aunt jemima name and logo for a replacement by the fourth quarter of this year pepsico committed 400 million to support black communities and increase black representation at the global brand.
Quaker oats is retiring the more than 130 year old aunt jemima brand and logo acknowledging its origins are based on a racial stereotype. The image of aunt jemima will be removed from packaging later in 2020 while the name change will happen at a later date. On 17 june 2020 the owner of aunt jemima quaker a subsidiary of pepsico announced that the name is to be scrapped along with its logo and branding.
They painted themselves black and they portrayed that like us she. I understand the images that white america portrayed us years ago. Nbc news reports vera harris whose great aunt lillian richard traveled the country promoting the quaker oats brand and portraying the aunt jemima character for more than 20 years said changing the logo would effectively remove her family s legacy.
The aunt jemima logo was an outgrowth of old south plantation nostalgia and romance grounded in an idea about the mammy a devoted and submissive servant who eagerly nurtured the. After attending the show two grain company magnates decided aunt jemima would make an ideal brand ambassador. The logo s original inspiration was a minstrel show around the turn of the 19th century with a popular song called old aunt jemima being sung by a white man dressed as a black woman.
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.
Early aunt jemima logos featured various crude renderings of a dark. A replacement name will be brought in some time after. Aunt jemima to change name and logo due to racial stereotyping.
The logo has evolved over time with quaker dropping aunt jemima.
Aunt jemima replacement logo. The 130 year old breakfast brand s logo features a black woman named aunt jemima who was once dressed as a minstrel character.
The 130 year old breakfast brand s logo features a black woman named aunt jemima who was once dressed as a minstrel character.
