Aunt Jemima, RIP

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

PepsiCo, in their infinite wisdom (witness the Super Bowl debacle), has laid Aunt Jemima to rest at age 132 as one of the country's most recognized brands. Bowing to the PC crowd, they seem to think the brand was racially insensitive, even after a makeover a few years ago.

I dunno about anyone else here, but Aunt Jemima was an "adopted member" of our family from the time I was a wee rat. We never thought of her in a racist fashion at all. But there's a contingent that just has to find fault with everything we say or do, and they make enough noise to attract attention.

Next time I'm at the supermarket, I guess I might as well just get the house brand of pancake mix and syrup, cuz I sure don' t know who in the world "Pearl Milling Company" is! I wonder how much company I'll have... and I also wonder how the folks over at Coca Cola will feel if they lose their top spot for one of the most boneheaded marketing moves ever when they came out with "New Coke."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/aunt-jemima-was-finally-rebranded-to-move-away-from-its-racially-insensitive-packaging-but-some-people-are-criticizing-how-it-was-changed/ar-BB1dA9Ob

Rick C

 

[daveg.inkc]

Pearl Milling Co. started in 1888. In St Joseph, MO. Charles Underwood and another man. Just add water from your well and have delicious pancakes!! Roughly 28 yrs after Pony Express in St Joseph.

 

[daveg.inkc]

Don’t forget Cherry Mash candy bars, too.

 

[Paul B]

"Next time I'm at the supermarket, I guess I might as well just get the house brand of pancake mix and syrup, cuz I sure don' t know who in the world "Pearl Milling Company" is!"

You ever wonder who makes those "house brands"????? Usually the same "politically correct woke" companies making the name brands. Same thing with COSTCO's Kirkland brands. One of the name brand companies is making the house brands. Trick is finding out which one for a particular product.
Paul B.

 

[sfhogman]

She was a member or our family, too. I was far too little to see a racist aspect. I liked her sweet smile and remember thinking that she was probably a better cook than my mother!

Jeff

 

[ohio bowhunter]

I'm sure they'll be changing Mrs. Butterworths also :roll:

 

[blackhawknj]

Yes, I said goodbye to Mia the Indian Maid. Funny, those store brands taste just as good.
Who's next-the Quaker Oats man ? Isn't a stereotype that belongs in the past ? And Quaker refers to a religious denomination-isn't that subtly pushing religion ?

 

[WendyZXZ]

Not sure what pancake mix we have here right now, but we use black strap molasses instead of syrup. Of course just wait for someone to come out with:

Black Strap! It has black in it ban it! Straps were used to bind and beat slaves, ban that!

You have to retitle that molasses because it is racist in nature.

 

[Rick Courtright]

You ever wonder who makes those "house brands"????? Usually the same "politically correct woke" companies making the name brands. Same thing with COSTCO's Kirkland brands. One of the name brand companies is making the house brands. Trick is finding out which one for a particular product.

Hi,

Way back when, I took a marketing class which dwelt on "house branding" for a couple of nights. This was late '70s, and the prof said if there was one name brand on the shelf, plus a house brand, it was a safe bet the market's brand was made by the name brand company. If there were two name brands and one house brand, that house brand was generally stocked next to the maker's brand. For example, the canned vegetables on the shelf were Brand A (name brand), Brand B (another name brand) and Brand X (house brand.) If they were lined up as A, B and X, B probably made X as well. Flip it around to B, A and X as you viewed the shelf, and A probably provided the house brand. If it went A, X and B, you might be on your own!

Since then, the art and science of stocking the shelves has been studied and changed a lot, where one model seems to have moved to a "dollars per hour per square foot" movement of product. House brands will often be on lower shelves where customers don't see them as well as the higher dollar name brands. In that scenario, it would be hard to say who makes "X" if a couple of name brands were on a shelf above.

Times change, but there's another way to learn who makes the house brand: simply ask a "more seasoned looking" employee. Sometimes they can be a wealth of info.

Rick C

 

[trebor44]

So the wonder thinkers (not) choose to eliminate the diverse image of a black woman who had successfully integrated into white society and culture because of some misguided concept of 'political correct' imagery! Did any of them remotely think about how racially motivated their decision was in choosing to remove a black person from white society and make a black person invisible?

 

[Jimbo357mag]

If Aunt Jemima is being laid rest at age 132 and the Indian Maiden taken off Land-O-Lakes butter who is going to be next? Has anybody seen Uncle Ben's in the store lately? Charley the tuna must have taken his last dive a long time ago also.

 

[Enigma]

I wonder how Pepsico will feel about their wonderful decision to be social justice warriors when sales of 'Pearl Milling Company' products drop to nearly zero, because nobody knows who or what they are. I normally use Hungry Jack pancake mix anyway, but you can bet I'm not about to switch to PMC brand because they are suddenly woke.

 

[blackhawknj]

Back in the 1960s here in the Northeast there was a soda company called Cott-"It's Cott to be good!" That brand disappeared but that company moved into private labels. I read they made Walmart's house brands.
Making pancakes or waffles from raw ingredients isn't that much harder and you have greater control over the ingredients. Just remember to add the sugar or they won't brown.
Here in NJ the German owned Aldi's and Lidl chains are moving in pretty strong with their store and off brands.

 

[RSIno1]

Mail order some real maple syrup from a VT farm. None of that better living through chemistry with artificial flavor and artificial color syrup for me.
The ultimate goal is to have no brands and be like Russia where you stand in line to get your annual state produced syrup ration then move to the line where you get your annual state produced pancake mix ration then to the state produced TP line.

 

[Bob Wright]

Jemima's name will not disappear:


Job 42:14
And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.


Bob Wright

 

[blackhawknj]

In years gone by there were a lot of regional and local brands, perhaps it's time for a revival for them.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Actually, I read somewhere that the Model Lady for "Aunt Jemima" Syrup became quite wealthy from the use of her name and image on the syrup.

 

[Skoopski]

The very first “Aunt Jemima”, Nancy Green was a performer that worked in booths at county fairs around the country showing how to make pancakes, while singing and regaling people with tales from her “slave days”. She was paid a working wage and never compensated past that for the likeness of her image in the company. She died after getting hit by a car 2 years before the company was sold to the Quaker oats company. What I feel they should’ve done, is show the history of the real women who were “brand ambassadors” and played Aunt Jemima, and tell their story.

Aunt Jemima was a complete marketing ploy. The character was made up to tell a marketing story to sell pancakes. It’s the same story as Gone With the Wind and Mammy. It portrays a motherly figure that loves her family (owners) and wants to take care of them. It romanticizes slavery to try and make it “not so bad”. That’s the problem people are having with it. If you don’t see the problem with that, I don’t know what to tell you. But just because it’s something from your childhood, doesn’t make it right. Keeping something the same because it’s “always been that way” is the worst excuse you can have. It’s ok to adapt and evolve.

But in the end, who really cares what name is on your pancakes? Everyone knows Hungry Jack extra fluffy is where it’s at...

 

[gunzo]

I also heard that Cracker Barrel restaurants will soon be called Caucasian Barrel.

 

[prairieviper]

I make it a point not to purchase products that go out of their way to yield to such politically correct nonsense. I wouldn't buy Pearl Milling Company branded products if it was the only brand left on the shelf.