WORLD GONE MAD: Cream of Wheat Packaging Under Review After Uncle Ben’s, Mrs. Butterworth’s Join Aunt Jemima in Rebranding

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B&G Foods has initiated an “immediate review” of the packaging of Cream of Wheat after brands Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s and Mrs. Butterworth’s announced their decisions to overhaul their brands. The breakfast cereal has been criticized since the 1890s for its use of a smiling Black chef on the packaging. The original mascot was a racial caricature of a Black man known as Rastus.

“We understand there are concerns regarding the Chef image, and we are committed to evaluating our packaging and will proactively take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racism,” B&G Foods said in a statement. Read more at USA Today.

{Matzav.com}


13 COMMENTS

  1. Quite ironic.

    They used to complain about the lack of black faces on ads and products

    Now they are complaining about the ones that are there.

    • Reason being: The pictures represent hard working, responsible citizens who wanted to give rather than receive. They represent people who wanted to turn their backs on their past and face the future with a tireless commitment to improve their lot and to contribute to society, community, and family.
      None of that is relevant today.

      • How stupid are you, really?

        The “Aunt Jemima” mascot is explicitly based on the “mammy” stereotype. “Mammy” wasn’t a hard-working, responsible citizen who wanted to give rather than receive; she was a slave who was tasked with raising her owner’s children. She didn’t have a choice.

    • do you know that uncle Ben’s and aunt jemmima are based on minstrel show characters?? would you like if a major brand had images of jews based in antisemtism and then people said “but its jewish representation why are you upset?”

    • Yeah, because they’re racist stereotypes. You’re not this stupid, so stop being disingenuous. It makes you look like an even bigger naar than you are.

  2. I bet that there isn’t a single Black person in the USA who objects to this branding, on any level. And the only ones making a fuss are the white libs who won’t stop protecting the ‘underprivileged’, if it harms them.

    • “I bet that there isn’t a single Black person in the USA who objects to this branding”

      And you’d be wrong. I know, I know – you have black friends and they say they don’t care. That isn’t because “black people” don’t pay attention to this crap; it’s because your friends have concluded that the risk of losing their proximity to whiteness far outweighs any potential gain from objecting to obviously racist but, as viewed by white people, inconsequential imagery.

      Your black friends all know you’re a racist.

  3. If you had any idea of the context in which these caricatures of blacks are depicted you would understand that they represent a racist culture. Having a black man pitch a new car in an ad is inclusive. Highlighting a black executive would be positive. Highlighting a black working in one of the low level service positions that the white culture allowed them to work in is another thing. When a Jew was depicted as the loan shark in The Merchant of Venice, no Jew thanked Shakespeare for including Jews in his play!

  4. the whole world has been hijacked by thugs who were looking for an excuse to do damage. i worked with black people and i had black neighbors. every one of them wanted their kids to do well in school, to be kind and honest, to get good jobs, to get married and give them wonderful grandchildren. although some of those children may have been among those rallying against real or perceived injustices, those i knew must have cringed at being included in people’s mindswith the groups that looted, smashed, stole, etc.

    • Uh-huh. Tell us more about how much you love the “good ones” that you’ve met.

      How are Jews of all people not more sensitive to this stuff? Here’s a wake-up call: you’ve only been allowed to be white for the last 75 years, and your inclusion in that category, if you continue to tolerate bigotry and prejudice against other minorities, can be just as readily revoked. All it takes is a slight shift in the political winds and you’re back to being society’s scapegoats – like the “thugs” (that’s no longer a dog whistle, by the way; just use the n-word like you want to) you’re clutching your pearls over now.

  5. it’s too bad that aunt Jemima and Uncle ben are being retired. The comfort and good taste that these two products have given our family over the past 70 years is gone. And I’m sure both Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben have laughed their way to the bank.

    The next one to go is Thomas Jefferson down with the nickle and change the Jefferson Memorial to the famous Yes we can Obama. Remember Jefferson had slaves on his plantation and fathered slaves.

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