Aunt Jemima’s New Name Is Causing Quite The Controversy
PepsiCo opted to drop the Aunt Jemima moniker for their pancake mix and syrup trademark, citing it as “racist,” during the height of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer.
The Pepsi marketing experts have been working nonstop to come up with a catchy moniker to replace Aunt Jemima in the months since that choice went viral. They are now revealing their much-awaited choice: Pearl Milling Company.
In June 2021, you should be able to find the new packaging in a store near you. Products with the racist name will still be available for purchase up until that point, but the packaging will no longer feature the iconic character’s picture.In fact, the brand name for the new pancake mix and syrup has a long history with the company. The Pearl Milling Company bears the name of the St. Joseph, Missouri-based business that was established in 1888. The corporation would produce the self-rising pancake mix, later dubbed Aunt Jemima due to its racist connotations, and hire Black women to make sales presentations while traveling the nation in an attempt to market the mix.
In 1925, the Quaker Oats Company purchased the rights to the Aunt Jemima name. They updated Aunt Jemima’s look at the time to make it seem less racial. The 1920s saw people were concerned that the image of the Black woman used to sell pancake mix and syrup was based on racist stereotypes rooted in the…. The full news