Categories: News

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.)

Related Post
The Counter
Share
Published by
The Counter
Tags: Aunt Jemima

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

3 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

3 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

3 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

3 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago