Aunt Jemima

This article is about the food products brand formerly known as Aunt Jemima. For the vaudeville performer using the Aunt Jemima stage name, see Tess Gardella. For the brand that replaced Aunt Jemima, see Pearl Milling Company.

Aunt Jemima was an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, table syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix was developed in 1888–1889 by the Pearl Milling Company and was advertised as the first "ready-mix" cooking product.[1][2]

Aunt Jemima was modeled after, and has been a famous example of, the "Mammy" archetype in the Southern United States.[3] Due to the "Mammy" stereotype's historical ties to the Jim Crow era, Quaker Oats announced in June 2020 that the Aunt Jemima brand would be discontinued "to make progress toward racial equality",[4] leading to the Aunt Jemima image being removed by the fourth quarter of 2020.[5]

In June 2021, amidst heightened racial unrest in the United States,[6] the Aunt Jemima brand name was discontinued by its current owner, PepsiCo, with all products rebranded to Pearl Milling Company, the name of the company that produced the original pancake mix product.[5][7][8] The Aunt Jemima name remains in use in the brand's tagline, "Same great taste as Aunt Jemima."[5]

Nancy Green portrayed the Aunt Jemima character at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was one of the first Black corporate models in the United States.[1] Subsequent advertising agencies hired dozens of actresses to perform the role as the first organized sales promotion campaign.[9][10]

  1. ^ a b Kern-Foxworth, Marilyn (1994). Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus: Blacks in advertising, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014.
  2. ^ "Aunt Jemima—Our History". Quaker Oats. Archived from the original on August 23, 2007.
  3. ^ "Caricatures of African Americans: Mammy". Regnery Publishing. November 25, 2012. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020.
  4. ^ Kesslen, Ben (June 17, 2020). "Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is 'based on a racial stereotype'". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Kowitt, Beth (February 11, 2021). "The inside story behind Aunt Jemima's new name". Fortune. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Boyce, Travis (Summer 2020). "Cruel Summer1 | Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy". Journaldialogue.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  7. ^ Alcorn, Chauncey (February 9, 2021). "Aunt Jemima finally has a new name". CNN Business. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  8. ^ Kubota, Samantha (February 9, 2021). "Brand formerly known as Aunt Jemima reveals new name". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  9. ^ Crocker, Ronnie (June 17, 2020). "Homage to Aunt Jemima remains a tricky business". Beaumont Enterprise. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020.
  10. ^ "The untold story of the real 'Aunt Jemima' and the fight to preserve her legacy". ABC News. Retrieved April 10, 2024.