The aunt jemima name and image are being pulled from quaker oats famed pancake mix boxes but the basis for the original aunt jemima based on a kentucky native hasn t been pictured. On 17 june 2020 the owner of aunt jemima quaker a subsidiary. Butterworth s and namely aunt jemima said they would make changes to their logos packaging and even names following protests over systematic racism against them.
Starting in mid to late june 2020 many brands with mixed race characters incorporated into their branding including uncle ben s eskimo pie cream of wheat mrs. Roberto machado noa getty the aunt jemima mascot was created in the late 1800s and based off a minstrel song called aunt jemima a former slave named nancy green was hired to portray the character on the company s branding. The aunt jemima logo and mascot.
Aunt jemima s move has prompted some critics to argue that removing the logo would be erasing the legacy and success of the brand s original model nancy green. This 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 children of. She spoke in a likely invented dialect and the company hired women to portray her at world s fair expositions.
The original aunt jemima was an older woman dressed as though she were still living on the plantation with a handkerchief to cover her hair. The mammy archetype inspired the character and later brand of aunt jemima. 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. Quaker oats is retiring the more than 130 year old aunt jemima brand and logo acknowledging its origins are based on a racial stereotype.
Aunt jemima s logo has changed 6 times and its history is rooted in racial stereotypes and slavery check out how the brand started and evolved over 130 years jessica snouwaert 2020 06 17t21. The aunt jemima character is based on the enslaved mammy archetype. It is currently owned by the quaker oats company of chicago a subsidiary of pepsico.
Character aunt jemima original logo. The aunt jemima pancake mix debuted in 1889 the first ready mix.
The aunt jemima pancake mix debuted in 1889 the first ready mix.