It has been an important staple of American breakfast tables for more than a century, but has long been criticized for its name and likeness rooted in racist images.
Aunt Jemima now has a new name: the Pearl Milling Company.
In an announcement Tuesday by PepsiCo, which owns Aunt Jemima’s parent company Quaker Oats, the pancake mix and syrup line has begun to formally rebrand itself and move one step closer to abandoning its 131-year-old name permanently.
The new name comes from the milling company in St. Joseph, Mo., who pioneered the self-rising pancake mix that became known as Aunt Jemima, according to PepsiCo, who said the reprocessed products would hit stores in June.
The change has been going on since June last year, after the murder of George Floyd caused major protests over racial injustice and a nationwide reckoning of symbols of the Old South and their meaning. Several large food companies came under fire for using racial stereotypes, including Quaker Oats, who said they would abandon Aunt Jemima’s name, redesign the packaging and pledge $ 5 million to support the Black community.
The company unveiled a redesigned website for its range of Aunt Jemima products on Tuesday, saying “this was the beginning of a new day.”
“Last June, PepsiCo and The Quaker Oats Company made a commitment to change Aunt Jemima’s name and image, acknowledging that this does not reflect our core values,” the company said on the website.
Products with the Aunt Jemima name will be available until June, but without the picture of the Aunt Jemima character, according to PepsiCo, which said in a news release that the company was seeking input on the new name.
“During the effort that led to the new name of Pearl Milling Company, Quaker worked with consumers, employees, external cultural and subject matter experts, and diverse agency partners to gather broad perspectives and ensure that the new brand was developed with inclusivity. in mind, “PepsiCo said.
Ja’Mal Green, a civil rights lawyer and former Chicago mayoral candidate, said on Twitter on Tuesday that the change was long overdue.
“130 years ago, two white men created ‘Aunt Jemima’ syrup,” Green said. “Took a black slave archetype and made her profit from their syrup. Today it ends. Aunt Jemima is finally replaced. white men have appropriated billions to claim blackness and hopefully rot in hell. ‘
On the Aunt Jemima website, photos of the pancake mix and syrup’s new packaging were unveiled on Tuesday. There is a version of a mill with a water wheel and still uses the same red, white and yellow color scheme. Both the pancake mixture and the syrup bottle contain a label that reads: “New Name Same Great Taste Aunt Jemima.”
In addition to the new brand, the newly formed Pearl Milling Company also said on Tuesday that it is making a $ 1 million commitment to empower and uplift black girls and women. The money is in addition to an investment of $ 400 million, five years, to support black businesses and communities, and to increase black representation at PepsiCo, the company said.
Noliwe Rooks, a writer and professor at Cornell University whose work explores race and gender, said in an email Tuesday night that there are additional steps the company could take.
“I think one of the good uses of these funds could be to support a black advertising agency run by black women to consult with them in future to ensure they have good advice on their branding and advertising plans,” “the dr. Rooks said. $ 1 million.
The Aunt Jemima character has its origins in a 19th-century minstrel song that expressed nostalgia for the Southern antebellum. Quaker Oats replaced the head scarf on Aunt Jemima’s head with a checkered headband in 1968, adding pearl earrings and a lace collar in 1989.
Last September, Mars Food announced that it would change the name of its uncle Ben’s rice products to Ben’s Original and that it would also remove the image of an older black man smiling out of the box.
The parent company of Cream of Wheat also said in September that the Black chef would no longer appear on its packaging.