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Quaker Oats recently announced they would be retiring the "Aunt Jemima" brand which they acknowledged drew on Black stereotypes.
At one time, advertising in the United States was full of racist imagery. But as Black consumers became a greater force in the marketplace and tolerance for racism waned, most of those brand images were replaced or the product discontinued.
Two notable holdouts were the Uncle Ben's and Aunt Jemima brands. But the logos went through several makeovers.
The news that Quaker Oats was finally retiring Aunt Jemima prompted one Twitter user to outline the history of the Aunt Jemima brand image for anyone who might not know.
JUST IN: Quaker Oats is removing the name and image of Aunt Jemima from the brand in effort "to make progress toward racial equality." https://t.co/fzxik9pavg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 17, 2020
The news that Aunt Jemima would be changing its name and imaging was received as good news by many.
Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is 'based on a racial stereotype.'
“We recognize Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype," Quaker Oats said, adding the move is an effort "toward progress on racial equality."https://t.co/GsxfzjdaSh
— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) June 17, 2020
Twitter user lil lex (@lexikennedy35) gave her followers a full run down of how the brand came to exist.
The sad history behind the Aunt Jemima brand a thread pic.twitter.com/jbpVgVpTx5
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
Aunt Jemima is a brand of pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast foods owned by the Quaker Oats Company ,a subsidiary of PepsiCo. The trademark dates to 1893, although Aunt Jemima pancake mix debuted in 1889 pic.twitter.com/ajs3EqL9n4
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
Who is Aunt Jemima ? Her real name is Nancy Green. Nancy Green was a storyteller, cook, activist, and the first of several African-American models hired to promote a corporate trademark as "Aunt Jemima. Born November 17, 1834
Died: September 23, 1923 pic.twitter.com/eEp2oTDEvq
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
She dug into the life of Nancy Green, the former slave and activist who sold her image to Quaker Oats.
Green was born into slavery on March 4, 1834. She was hired in 1890 by the R.T. Davis Milling Company to represent "Aunt Jemima" an advertising character named after a song from a minstrel show. They were looking to employ an African American woman as a Mammy type to promote.
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
It was her job to operate a pancake-cooking display. Her amicable personality and talent as a cook for the Walker family, whose children grew up to become Chicago Circuit Judge Charles M. Walker and Dr. Samuel Walker helped establish a successful showing of the product pic.twitter.com/EFnbeVTw7h
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
she received a medal and certificate from the Expo officials.After the Expo, Green was offered a lifetime contract to adopt the Aunt Jemima moniker and promote the pancake mix. This marked the beginning of a major promotional push by the company pic.twitter.com/jNMeATOm4n
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
After Green's death, her family was largely cut off from the earnings her labor created for the company.
Nancy Green maintained her job with Davis Milling (which was renamed Aunt Jemima Mills Company in 1914 until her death in 1923; she was still working as Aunt Jemima at the time. A lawsuit claims that Nancy Green's heirs as well as other heirs from the other women used as Aunt
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
Jemima models deserve $2 billion and a share of future revenue from the sales of popular demand.The federal lawsuit was filed by another model (Anna Short Harrington)'s grandsons who claim that she and Green were the roots in creating the recipe for the nation's first self risin
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
pancake batter. It also states that Green was the originator and came up with the idea of adding powdered milk for extra flavor in the pancakes. Quaker Oats, who is the current owner of the brand, says this image of Aunt Jemima was in fact fake and never real pic.twitter.com/rb89QNdIbu
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
The company denied any connection between Green and the Aunt Jemima brand after her death at age 89, just shy of her 90th birthday.
Twitter user lil lex tweeted the typo 30 instead of 90 in error.
claiming that there are no trace of contracts between the women who displayed as Aunt Jemima models and their bosses. The suit was dismissed as the heirs failed to prove that they were related to the woman who posed as Aunt Jemima. So after she died at age 30 none of the deals
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
That she had with the company and her huge influence on the brand wasn't acknowledged and her family members did not receive any money from her work. To this day she is the face of the company records of her work were erased and they still use this black womans face to this day pic.twitter.com/BBnZhVFrJx
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
Not sure how much exactly the brand is worth but it is owned by Pepsi and Pepsi is worth an estimated 127 billion🤷🏽♀️ there are a million pancake syrup brands please no longer buy into this company for more information research her this is just a thread some details were left out
— lil lex💕 (@lexikennedy35) June 16, 2020
To some online, simply rebranding Aunt Jemima products again seemed like too little too late.
It took 131 years to acknowledge that Aunt Jemima is based on a racist stereotype https://t.co/1Q5lQ1OWd9
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 17, 2020
The Aunt Jemima brand has profited from our oppression for 130 years.
Yet Quaker Oats (owned by $80 billion-in-assets PepsiCo) is suddenly changing the label next year and donating a meager $5 million to Black charities over the next 5 years as a fix? https://t.co/s8OmUHFq7s
— Staying in the Game (@AdrienneLaw) June 17, 2020
It is doubtful Aunt Jemima will be the last company to shift their branding and internal procedures as protests force a racial reckoning in the United States.