Two families of former Aunt Jemima spokesmodels oppose rebrand
Last week, we reported that the Quaker company announced plans to rebrand its Aunt Jemima syrup after decades of criticism. The character was portrayed by real women on television and at promotional events until 1958. Now, USA Today reports two of the families of the former spokesmodels have said they oppose the rebranding. “The racism they talk about, using images from slavery, that comes from the other side—white people,” said Larnell Evans Sr., a descendant of Anna Short Harrington, one of the early Aunt Jemima models. “This company profits off images of our slavery. And their answer is to erase my great-grandmother’s history.” (There was a similar follow-up to the removal of the Native woman from Land o’ Lakes butter.)
