Quaker Oats and its parent company Pepsi Co. are retiring the Aunt Jemima brand name and logo because it’s based on the racial stereotype of a mammy, a black woman who worked for a white family and took care of the white children in the south.
“As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations,” Quaker Oats said in a statement to CNN Business.
The brand is based on the song “Old Aunt Jemima” from a minstrel show performer and was reportedly sung by slaves, CNN reports.
According to the company’s website, the logo of a black woman started in 1890 and was based on Nancy Green, who is described as a “storyteller, cook and missionary worker.” However, the description leaves out the fact that she was born into slavery.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The logo has evolved over the years but ran racist ads for decades, with actresses playing the mammy stereotype. In the 1990s, Gladys Knight was even hired as a spokeswoman.
For years there had been calls to change the logo that all went ignored until the recent cultural reckoning that came with Geroge Floyd’s murder and worldwide protests that followed.
In 2017, B. Smith’s husband said the logo was the epitome of “female humiliation,” and in 2015, Cornell University professor Riché Richardson said the logo is “very much linked to Southern racism.”
Quaker Oats’ North America chief marketing officer Kristin Kroepfl said in the statement, “While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough.”
A new logo and brand name haven’t been announced yet, but it is expected to debut in the fall.
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