Quaker Oak’s Realizes Aunt Jemima is based on Racist Stereotypes, Set to Rebrand

Quaker Oaks has announced they are retiring the Aunt Jemima brand and logo, citing that the brand was based on a racial stereotype.

CNN Business reports the brand was derived from the song “Old Aunt Jemima,” which was based on a minstrel show performer and was sang by slaves.

The origin story placed on their website states the logo and brand is based on a storyteller, cook, and missionary worker named Nancy Green, but omitted that she was born into slavery.

In an effort to “Set Her Free” a petition has been set on Change.org to as PepsiCo (which Quaker Oak after purchasing the company in 2001) to replace Aunt Jemima with B. Smith. Siting Aunt Jemima’s negative legacy and the proliferation of its painful, stereotypical, racist imagery is the reason It isn’t any social media platforms, except for a frozen products Facebook page by licensee Pinnacle Foods. The liability that advertising the brand has great potential than the hurting PepsiCo and partners.

This petition chose B.Smith because she has been at the forefront of style, entertaining, and health and wellness, leading the way for positive branding. She has an unblemished, strong, profitable legacy joining diversity, a multi-ethnic aesthetic, and authenticity all together under one stylish umbrella.

The petition has yet to reach its goal of 2,500 signatures, PepsiCo knows that in today’s social climate, people won’t stand with a company that blatantly ignored a symbol that is offensive to Black women, no Black Americans.

“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,” Quaker Oats, which is owned by Pepsi, said in a statement.

So PepsiCo has decided to retire the image and a new logo and brand name for their breakfast items will come in the fall. In addition to the conclusion of the brand, Aunt Jemima will donate $5 million to “create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the Black community” in the next five years.

The question I have for this brand is “What took you so long to realize this?”