Aunt Jemima brand announces new name following backlash amid Black lives Matter protests

PepsiCo has announced the new name for its popular pancake and syrup brand Aunt Jemima, months after acknowledging that it had racist origins amid Black Lives Matter protests.

On Tuesday, PepsiCo, the parent company of Quakers Oats, revealed that the Aunt Jemima brand will change its name to the Pearl Milling Company in June.

The change will be implemented a year after the company announced that it would retire the branding, saying that the character’s origins are “based on a racial stereotype.”

The character of Aunt Jemima was inspired by a popular stereotypical Black minstrel character in the 1800s, and was later adopted by the brand.

The decision to redesign the logo was made amid Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020, which took place in opposition to systemic racism and police brutality.

Other brands featuring Black characters, including Uncle Ben’s, announced changes amid calls to remove imagery with racist origins.

However, The criticism of Aunt Jemima, which is 130 years old, originated long before the racial justice protests last summer.

Writing for The New York Times in 2015, Riché Richardson, a professor at Cornell University, wrote that the logo is linked to “southern racism.”

She said that the logo was inspired by a “‘mammy,’ a devoted and submissive servant who eagerly nurtured the children of her white master and mistress while neglecting her own.”

The brand removed the kerchief that is common in depictions of the mammy stereotype a few years ago, but did not make any other changes to the logo and overall branding.

Quaker Oats said on Tuesday that the new name was chosen because Pearl Milling Company, which was founded in 1888, was the originator of the self-rising pancake mix.

Although the branding and logo will be changed, the boxes and bottles in store will continue to have the recognisable red packaging, according to the Associated Press.

Kristin Kroepfl, the vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, said in a press release in June 2020 that the brand decided to implement the changes in order to “make progress toward racial equality.”

He added: “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.”

In the process of deciding on its new branding, the company said that it sought advice from employees, customers and cultural experts.

Quaker Oats also announced that it will donate $1m (£772,450) to groups that empower Black women, as part of the launch of the Pearl Milling Company brand.

This donation is in addition to the previously announced $5m (£3.6m) over the next five years to “create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the Black community.”