Aunt Jemima

About

Aunt Jemima was a brand of pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast foods. Owned by the Quaker Oats Company, Aunt Jemima first appeared in the late 1800s. Its logo and name, a black woman named Aunt Jemima, is based on minstrel shows from the Reconstruction era and the mammy stereotype. This has made Aunt Jemima the subject of criticism over the last century due its racist depiction of black people. In June 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, Quaker Oats announced they would be discontinuing and replacing the brand.

History

Rutt and Underwood's Pearl Milling Factory first released the Aunt Jemima pancake mix in 1889 as a means of surplus flour.^[1] The character "Aunt Jemima" comes from the 1875 minstrel song "Old Aunt Jemima." However, reports of the character "Aunt Jemima" date back to minstrel shows from as early as 1884. These performances include interpretations in which white male actors donned blackface to play the role of Jemima (sample advertisements below).

In 1890, Rutt and Underwood sold the company to Randolph Truett Davis Milling Company. The brand would change hands several times over the next two decades before the Quaker Oats Company bought Aunt Jemima in 1926. They registered the trademark for the character in 1937.

2020 Rebrand

On June 17th, 2020, the Quaker Oats Company announced that they would be discontinuing the brand, recognizing that the character's "origins are based on a racial stereotype."^[2] In a statement, Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, said in a statement:^[3]

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. We recognize Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype. 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.

We acknowledge the brand has not progressed enough to appropriately reflect the confidence, warmth, and dignity that we would like it to stand for today. We are starting by removing the image and changing the name. We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organization and the Black community to further evolve the brand and make it one everyone can be proud to have in their pantry.

Online Reaction

News of the rebranding became a topic of conversation online. That day, Redditor ^[4] hildebrand_rarity posted about the change in the /r/news subreddit. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 39,000 points (85% upvoted) and 6,900 comments.

Facebook ^[5] user Peggy Hubbard criticized the change, joking that it only appeared "butt hurt people." The post received more than 6,300 reactions, 3,200 comments, and 2,300 shares in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Others mocked the outrage response to the removal of Aunt Jemima. Comedian Brent Terhune posted a mock outrage video from a car on Twitter, explaining the racism ingrained in the character. The post received more than 400,000 views, 16,000 likes, 4,300 retweets, and 1,100 comments (shown below).

Following the news, people continued to share a video by Instagram user @singkirbysing that shares the racist history of Aunt Jemima posted 24 hours before Quaker Oats announced the rebrand. @singkirbysing's post received more than 127,000 views and 24,000 likes in less than two days (shown below).

Some shared a post by satirical newspaper the Onion that announced a new character named Shelia, a black female lawyer who enjoys pancakes sometimes, a week before the Quaker Oats announcement. On Twitter,^[6] the June 12th post received more than 21,000 likes and 4,200 retweets in less than one week (shown below).

Search Interest

External References