It’s important to remember that in this world of reckoning in regards to brands with racist names and imagery, the Washington Redskins are still an NFL team. Let that sink in. The Cleveland Indians finally retired the offensive giant-toothed “Chief Wahoo” back in 2018. Yet, the Redskins remain. Regardless, in the past few weeks, many major food brands have re-evaluated their racist imagery, names, and characters. Check out some of the brands below that will soon look a bit different on store shelves.
Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)
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Racist Rebranding Products
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Cream of Wheat
In the early 1900s, a character named “Rastus” adorned boxes of Cream of Wheat. Rastus is widely considered to be an offensive term for black men. In 1925, the brand realized how offensive it was so they removed the image and replaced it with a portrait of a black Chicago chef named Frank L. White not realizing that they didn’t really make it any less offensive. Last week, they finally decided to rebrand.
Photo: Cream of Wheat
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Aunt Jemima
Some of these other brands can slip by unnoticed, but not Aunt Jemima. This past week, PepsiCo acknowledged the origin of the character was based on racial stereotypes and will be changed. It’s not like this is news to anyone. Years ago, Saturday Night Live even had a skit poking fun at racial stereotypes featuring Tracy Morgan as Aunt Jemima’s husband selling Uncle Jemima’s Pure Mash Liquor.
Photo: SOPA Images (Getty Images)
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Mrs. Butterworth's
Everyone knows Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup and the commercials featuring the creepy, jolly bottle of syrup that seemingly came to life to haunt your dreams. But you might not realize that a lot of people find the image offensive. That’s because the character is a reference to a “mammy,” or a black woman who works for a white family.
Photo: SOPA Images (Getty Images)
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Uncle Ben's
You’ve probably purchased many boxes of rice adorned by the image of “Uncle Ben” and not even thought twice about it. The brand has been around since 1946 and the company has decided to rebrand. The reason? The term “uncle” or “aunt” was used by Southern whites to refer to older black people because they wouldn’t call them “Mr.” or “Mrs.”
Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)
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Eskimo Pie
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream has made Eskimo Pies since 1921 and the term “Eskimo” has been offensive for pretty much the whole time the brand existed. The term has been used as derogatory slang for Inuit and Yupik people. This past week, the company finally decided that the time was right to remove the name and logo and rebrand the product.
Photo: Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream
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Land O' Lakes
Land O’ Lakes was one of the first brands to realize that a change was needed. For almost 100 years, an image of a kneeling Native American woman adorned the brand’s packaging. They decided to finally remove her back in February for obvious reasons.
Photo: Land O’ Lakes
