Aunt Jemima finally has a new name

Aunt Jemima finally has a new name

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The name “Aunt Jemima”, long criticized as a racist caricature of a black woman out of slavery, will be replaced with the name and logo of Pearl Milling Company on the former brand’s new packaging, according to parent company PepsiCo.

“We’re starting a new day with Pearl Milling Company,” a PepsiCo spokesman said. “A new day rooted in the historic beginning of the brand and its mission to create moments that matter at the breakfast table.”

The new brand is expected to launch in June, a year after the company announced the change. Aunt Jemima was one of several food brands – including Uncle Ben’s, Cream of Wheat and Mrs Butterworth’s – to announce redesigns as protests against systemic racism erupted in the United States this summer.
The Pearl Milling Company was, according to the PepsiCo, the late 19th-century enterprise that made the original pancake mix. It was founded in 1888 by Chris L. Rutt.

Rutt named the original company after ‘Old Aunt Jemima’, a song from 1875 from a minstrel show that appeared artists in black face what wore aprons and bandana headbands.

The new logo of Pearl Milling Company replaces the aunt Jemima statue with a watermill from the 19th century where flour was ground at the time. The red, white and yellow color scheme of the new logo matches the colors used on Aunt Jemima’s packaging.

“This name is a nod to where we started delicious products before we had a family favorite breakfast,” PepsiCo said of its new brand Pearl Milling Company. “Although the Aunt Jemima brand has been updated over the years in a way that removes racial stereotypes, it has not progressed enough to properly reflect the dignity, respect and warmth we stand on today.”

PepsiCo said it has done extensive market research to come up with its new brand.

“Quaker has worked with consumers, employees, external cultural and subject matter experts and diverse agency partners to gather broad perspectives and ensure the new brand is developed with inclusivity in mind,” the company said.

News from Aunt Jemima’s rebranding in June started a domino effect among food brands with racist or otherwise controversial mascots. The food company Mars announced within hours of the announcement that it would do away with the brand name and logo for Uncle Ben’s rice, and eventually renamed itself as Ben’s Original.
The syrup manufacturer, Mrs. Butterworth, who is owned by Conagra, and whose shape of a human-shaped bottle looks like a woman when filled with maple syrup, announced that they would change the same name on the same day. And a day later, Cream of Wheat’s parent, B&G Foods, said that its black chef logo, based on a dull, black face caricature, had been removed in the early 20th century with Cream of Wheat ads.

According to PepsiCo, Pearl Milling Company will also announce an annual $ 1 million commitment to empower and uplift black girls and women. The investment is an addition to PepsiCo’s $ 400 million, five-year commitment to promote and uplift the Black community, the company said.

Pearl Milling invites the public to visit its website and designate non-profit organizations for the opportunity to receive grants to advance the mission.

“The commitment we make reflects our broader PepsiCo values ​​of diversity and inclusion and support for the Black community,” PepsiCo said.

How will the public react?

It’s difficult to determine the reaction to Aunt Jemima’s new brand, said Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing Group. Receipt of the new brand will depend on Pepsi’s rollout plan.

“It’s a little different because you change the name of a brand,” he said after looking at an example of the brand logo. “If you only saw it for yourself, you would have no idea it was Aunt Jemima, who had his tie long with pancakes and pancake mix. It does not.”

Allen Adamson, co-founder of New York-based trading consulting firm Metaforce, says the new name of Pearl Milling is a strong choice.

“The name has craft and artesian images, a key to success in the food category, “he said. This is also important as it was the original name of the product. Younger consumers are very interested in authenticity. ‘

Howard University African-American Studies professor Greg Carr says it looks like PepsiCo is trying to find a balance between pursuing a popular product while scrub each trace of racism from the product’s new brand.

“In a way, a change to Pearl Milling Company can be interpreted as a form of corporate mea culpa for an inherited sin he did not commit,” Carr told CNN Business. But, he added, “the market will ultimately determine whether it will be a win for PepsiCo.”

Correction: The original Pearl Milling Company was established in 1888. An earlier version of this story set the year wrong.

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