Aunt Jemima brand to go away.

[cajunaggie08]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/aunt-jemima-brand-will-change-name-remove-image-quaker-says-n1231260

 

Quaker Foods announced that their product line of pancake mix and syrup will no longer be called Aunt Jemima due to the brand origins being based on racist stereotypes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BBTV]

This is one of those things that as a white guy, I never even thought about, but now makes total sense to me.  It's good that these things are happening because not only does it remove depictions of people that many feel degrade their race, but it educates people like me that didn't know the history behind it.

 

One thing I don't get - the article states and the early packaging suggests that "Aunt Jemima" was a minstrel character, so basically a white person portraying a southern "mammy" in blackface, then I guess she just transformed into an actual southern mammy?

 

I wonder if they can rebrand and still have an african american face on it, just a different "character" in a more respectful and dignified backstory?  Or if that's off limits altogether now.

 

Also - I don't see much difference between those early Aunt Jemima drawings and Chief Wahoo.  I hope that's not going too far, but this paints the picture pretty clearly IMO.

[MEANS]

Step right up Uncle Ben as well. These are both long overdue. Now if only some football team in our nation's capital would make a move.....

[DG_ThenNowForever]

There are a couple of American sports teams that should quickly follow suit.

 

I'm a white guy too and remember as kids (early 90s?) us looking at the Aunt Jemima bottle and wondering how it could possibly be okay. Though maybe I'm remembering a Chris Rock bit too? Either is possible.

 

However, to the main topic, good. And maybe track down the woman who they modeled Jemima on and make sure her family is compensated for her likeness.

[SFGiants58]

27 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

 

Also - I don't see much difference between those early Aunt Jemima drawings and Chief Wahoo.  I hope that's not going too far, but this paints the picture pretty clearly IMO.

 

Nah, that's pretty apt.

 

I'd like to recommend a video on a similar subject.

 

 

It does a good job of talking about how racist stereotypes like Aunt Jemima emerged from the late-19th/early-20th century and how they evolved from blackface to being one of the few kind of roles that African-American actors could have in Hollywood.

[JayMac]

I'll take it one step further and any branding that has any type of person should go away, just to be safe. 

 

Wouldn't Quaker's branding be considered at the very least insensitive? The brand depicts a Quaker from the 17th or 18th century. This could symbolize slavery, etc.

 

Just spitballing here.

[Burmy]

27 minutes ago, JayMac said:

Wouldn't Quaker's branding be considered at the very least insensitive? The brand depicts a Quaker from the 17th or 18th century. This could symbolize slavery, etc.

The states people most associate with members of the Society of Friends (the denomination called "Quakers") are Ohio and Pennsylvania (both of which were free states).

 

As such, the Quakers were among the most ardent abolitionists (because of their belief in all mankind being equals and their friends).

[C-Squared]

26 minutes ago, JayMac said:

I'll take it one step further and any branding that has any type of person should go away, just to be safe. 

 

Wouldn't Quaker's branding be considered at the very least insensitive? The brand depicts a Quaker from the 17th or 18th century. This could symbolize slavery, etc.

 

Just spitballing here.

 

I've always wondered why every TV show & movie set in the future features people in the same nondescript matching silver suit. I'm starting to understand how a society might get there.

[JayMac]

9 minutes ago, C-Squared said:

 

I've always wondered why every TV show & movie set in the future features people in the same nondescript matching silver suit. I'm starting to understand how a society might get there.

We are definitely moving toward a society that was shown in the movie "Demolition Man".

 

It isn't too far fetched to imagine a world where you have a contactless handshake and no guns. Maybe we will even have a voice telling us how great we are just for a quick pick-me-up. I say this with some jest but it is funny to think about how a 90s action movie did predict a little bit of the future.

[goalieboy82]

4 minutes ago, JayMac said:

We are definitely moving toward a society that was shown in the movie "Demolition Man".

 

It isn't too far fetched to imagine a world where you have a contactless handshake and no guns. Maybe we will even have a voice telling us how great we are just for a quick pick-me-up. I say this with some jest but it is funny to think about how a 90s action movie did predict a little bit of the future.

there was a throwaway line in the Simpsons (which i won't say just in case) that came true, so its possible.

 

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

This is one of those things that as a white guy, I never even thought about, but now makes total sense to me.  It's good that these things are happening because not only does it remove depictions of people that many feel degrade their race, but it educates people like me that didn't know the history behind it.

 

One thing I don't get - the article states and the early packaging suggests that "Aunt Jemima" was a minstrel character, so basically a white person portraying a southern "mammy" in blackface, then I guess she just transformed into an actual southern mammy?

 

I wonder if they can rebrand and still have an african american face on it, just a different "character" in a more respectful and dignified backstory?  Or if that's off limits altogether now.

 

Also - I don't see much difference between those early Aunt Jemima drawings and Chief Wahoo.  I hope that's not going too far, but this paints the picture pretty clearly IMO.

The  current picture used was changed in the 1980's to get rid of the antebellum version, to avoid losing more customers. I guess this is the logical next step, though changing the name altogether would be the best step forward. 

[MJWalker45]

22 minutes ago, MBurmy said:

The states people most associate with members of the Society of Friends (the denomination called "Quakers") are Ohio and Pennsylvania (both of which were free states).

 

As such, the Quakers were among the most ardent abolitionists (because of their belief in all mankind being equals and their friends).

What he said. I attended a Society of Friends school (Malone University, then College). The Quakers were actually pushed out of the coastal colonies by the Puritans. 

[Fitzy0220]

1 hour ago, JayMac said:

We are definitely moving toward a society that was shown in the movie "Demolition Man".

 

It isn't too far fetched to imagine a world where you have a contactless handshake and no guns. Maybe we will even have a voice telling us how great we are just for a quick pick-me-up. I say this with some jest but it is funny to think about how a 90s action movie did predict a little bit of the future.

I have been saying this for 16 years now. No Meat, No Sports, No Sex, No nothing. Just a dull bland life where everyday is the same. I keep saying this every year: at 47, sooooooo glad I am closer to the end than the beginning.
With each new generation, comes less motivation (in part due to Parents). Participation Trophies covers a lot of what I am talking about

[The_Admiral]

shut up shut up shut up shut uuuuuuuup about the participation trophies, who do you think handed them out?

[Burmy]

This post is gonna end up locked pretty soon, isn't it?

[CS85]

32 minutes ago, Fitzy0220 said:

I have been saying this for 16 years now. No Meat, No Sports, No Sex, No nothing. Just a dull bland life where everyday is the same. I keep saying this every year: at 47, sooooooo glad I am closer to the end than the beginning.
With each new generation, comes less motivation (in part due to Parents). Participation Trophies covers a lot of what I am talking about

 

Ooh, a hot take where a grizzled salt moans in comic defeat over the weakness and fragility of the modern softies who have ruined his once magical world. 

The world was a better place when minorities just shut up and stayed in their lanes.  The world was a better place when there were only two genders, and anyone who thought differently could be ridiculed and ostracized without repercussion.  The world was a better place when products just stayed the same forever and never changed, because brands should always realize that I am the center of the universe, and consistency isn't merely a comfort, but something I require.  The world was a better place when I could call somebody a slur and not have a phone in my face documenting my bigotry.  The world was a better place when a man could be a man and do things in an irrationally difficult, laborious way, because anyone who does anything in an easy, convenient, or automated fashion is a weak, spineless blobfish.  

 

Parents are bad.  But children and young people - also bad.  Everything is bad, and I am in no way responsible.  Life is a color-less, embarrassing waste, and I can't believe the faceless and pathetic generations of the last century or two have striven so hard to ruin it all just at my expense. 

 

Thanks for letting me down, young people from the last 200 years.  All I wanted was to chug tree blood from a hollow black woman when I entered my later years, and you couldn't even let me have that.

 

 

[Digby]

Sometimes I wonder why any topic in the orbit of social issues and politics is guaranteed to go off the rails. Here we can clearly see the rail-jumping moment: a take that posits the Quakers were slaveowners.

[C-Squared]

5 minutes ago, CherryMX said:

All I wanted was to chug tree blood from a hollow black woman when I entered my later years, and you couldn't even let me have that.

 

/thread

[Digby]

Also this ought to be a moot point because the only maple syrup vessel we recognize is this: 

 

[officeglenn]

*sigh* This may have started as a discussion related to graphic design, but once again it has gone off the rails.