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 resulting from slavery, will be replaced by the name and logo of the Pearl Milling Company on the previous brand’s new packaging, according to parent company PepsiCo.

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

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

Rutt named the company “Old Aunt Jemima”, an 1875 song from a minstrel show that featured blackface performers who wore aprons and bandanas.

The new Pearl Milling Company logo replaces Tia Jemima’s image with what appears to be a 19th century water mill, where flour was ground at the time. The new logo’s red, white and yellow color scheme matches the colors that were used in Aunt Jemima’s packaging.

“This name is a nod to where our delicious products started before they became the family’s favorite basic breakfast,” said PepsiCo of his new Pearl Milling Company brand. “Although the Tia Jemima brand has been updated over the years to remove racial stereotypes, it has not progressed enough to adequately reflect the dignity, respect and cordiality that we advocate today.”

PepsiCo said it has carried out extensive market research to arrive at its new brand.

“Quaker worked with consumers, employees, external culture and subject matter experts and several agency partners to bring together broad perspectives and ensure that the new brand was developed with inclusion in mind,” said the company.

News from Aunt Jemima’s brand change in June started a domino effect among food brands with racist or controversial pets. A few hours after the announcement, the food company Mars announced that it would eliminate the Uncle Ben’s brand and logo, eventually renaming itself as Ben’s Original.
Conagra-owned syrup maker Mrs. Butterworth’s, whose humanoid bottle shape looks like a woman of color when filled with maple syrup, announced it would change the brand name the same day. And a day later, Cream of Wheat’s mother, B&G Foods, said she was breaking up with her chef Black logo, which was based on a cartoon of the stupid black minstrel show seen in the Cream of Wheat ads from the beginning of 20th century.

PepsiCo said the Pearl Milling Company will also announce a $ 1 million annual commitment to empower and elevate black girls and women in the coming weeks. This investment is in addition to PepsiCo’s $ 400 million five-year commitment to promote and elevate the black community, the company said.

Pearl Milling is inviting the public to visit its website and nominate nonprofit organizations for an opportunity to receive grants to promote this mission.

“The commitment we are making is a reflection of our broader PepsiCo values ​​of diversity and inclusion and support for the black community,” said PepsiCo.

How will the public react?

It is difficult to assess the reaction to Tia Jemima’s new brand, said Apex Marketing Group president Eric Smallwood, who says that the reception of the new brand will depend on Pepsi’s launch plan.

“It’s a little bit different because you are changing a brand name,” he said after viewing an image of the trademark logo. “If you just saw it alone, you would have no idea it was Aunt Jemima, who had her long-time tie with pancakes and pancake mix. That doesn’t do.”

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

“The name has handcrafted and artesian images, a key to success in the food category, “he said.” It is also important and authentic, as it was the original name of the product. Younger consumers are deeply interested in authenticity. ”

Greg Carr, professor of African American Studies at Howard University, says it looks like PepsiCo is trying to strike a balance between continuing to market a popular product while rubbing each traces of racism from the new brand of this product.

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

Correction: The original Pearl Milling Company was founded in 1888. An earlier version of this story distorted the year.

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