Few celebrities who've gone far-right in recent years have sullied as much goodwill as actor Ben Stein, most famous as the droning, hilariously dull economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Most other MAGA-ish celebs were already problematic long before our current era—guys like Ted Nugent and Kid Rock and Kevin Sorbo weren't exactly known for being likable icons back in the day.
But Stein was genuinely beloved for many years, adding to his Bueller legend with stints on iconic shows like Family Guy and the eminently silly Comedy Central trivia gameshow Win Ben Stein's Money.
Now, his work consists of complaining the pancake and syrup brand formerly known as Aunt Jemima—now known as Pearl Milling Company—no longer has a "large African American woman" as a mascot, as seen in the video below.
\u201cActor Ben Stein says he misses the good old days when \u201ca large African-American woman\u201d was on his syrup bottle, but woke corporate culture ruins everything.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
Stein took to the internet to lament the fact the former Aunt Jemima company tried to remedy the influence of "America's inherently racist corporate culture" by changing its name and product appearance.
The company's move caused an uproar—exclusively among conservatives, who never seem to have anything better to do—when the company announced it in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the ensuing protests against racism and police brutality.
The former packaging featured the face of a smiling Black woman—an update to the many decades in which the packaging featured a jolly, Black "mammy" caricature dressed as a domestic slave with taglines that mocked Black speech like, "I'ze in town, honey! ... Time fo' dee-licious Aunt Jemima's...ready-mixed fo' you!"
The branding was rooted in racism from the antebellum South and Reconstruction era and immortalized in films like Gone With The Wind, with its iconic Black "mammy" slave character—who doesn't even have a name and is just called Mammy.
And the brand's very origins are rooted in racist exploitation of an actual Black servant the company paraded around at World's Fairs to advertise its pancake products.
\u201c@RonFilipkowski For those who don't know: https://t.co/b2nOwuvuhS\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
Stein thinks removing slave imagery from syrup packaging is a travesty, however.
He griped:
"They decided to make it a white person or maybe no person at all."
"But I prefer it when it was a Black person showing their incredible skill making pancakes.”
Twitter, as you might imagine, did not take kindly to Stein's Aunt Jemima video.
\u201c@RonFilipkowski Why did black people have to go and get all this pride and dignity and ruin everything?!! Now I can\u2019t shout to my wife \u201cJust grab the syrup with the fat black woman on it!!!\u201d when we\u2019re in the store. Woke!!!!!\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski He had someone hold the camera for this.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski He\u2019ll get over it \ud83d\ude10\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski Please don\u2019t call Ben Stein an actor. It makes us all look bad.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski \u201cIt\u2019s not racist I swear!\u201d\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski I was going to write a post with a metaphor comparing a traditional Jewish food with some offensive antisemitic propaganda branding...but, I decided just to say, "F**k you Ben Stein"\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski Is anyone surprised that Ben Stein is a racist. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski I'm curious how he'd feel if it was a blatantly racist picture of a Jewish person advertising a savings account.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
\u201c@RonFilipkowski I miss the good old days when Ben Stein was famous for saying \u2018Bueller\u2019 over and over.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1676982302
Imagine if conservatives like Stein spent their energy on issues that actually mattered instead of whining about syrup and butter mascots.
What a world that would be.
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