Aunt Jemima’ name and logo is finally changing!
Quaker Oats is releasing a new name and logo for its “Aunt Jemima” products, finally retiring the racist stereotype that has adorned its pancake mixes and syrups for decades.
The name “Aunt Jemima,” long criticized as a racist caricature of a Black woman stemming from slavery, will be replaced with the Pearl Milling Company name and logo on the former brand’s new packaging, according to parent company PepsiCo.“We are starting a new day with Pearl Milling Company,” a PepsiCo spokesperson said. “A new day rooted in the brand’s historic beginnings and its mission to create moments that matter at the breakfast table.”
The new brand is scheduled to launch in June, one year after the company announced the change. Aunt Jemima was one of several food brands — including Uncle Ben’s, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth’s — to announce redesigns as protests against systemic racism erupted across the United States this summer.
The Pearl Milling Company was the late-19th-century business that created the original ready-made pancake mix, according to PepsiCo. It was founded in 1888 by Chris L. Rutt.
Rutt named the original company after “Old Aunt Jemima,” an 1875 song from a minstrel show that featured performers in blackface who wore aprons and bandana headbands.
The new Pearl Milling Company brand logo replaces the Aunt Jemima image with what appears to be a 19th century watermill, where flour was ground at the time. The new logo’s red, white and yellow color scheme matches the colors that were used on Aunt Jemima’s packaging.
“This name is a nod to where our delicious products began before becoming a family-favorite breakfast staple,” PepsiCo said of its new Pearl Milling Company branding. “While the Aunt Jemima brand was updated over the years in a manner intended to remove racial stereotypes, it has not progressed enough to appropriately reflect the dignity, respect and warmth that we stand for today.”
PepsiCo said it conducted extensive market research to come up with its new brand name.
“Quaker worked with consumers, employees, external cultural and subject-matter experts, and diverse agency partners to gather broad perspectives and ensure the new brand was developed with inclusivity in mind,” the company said.
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