Mars, the owner of Uncle Ben’s rice, has announced a new name for the popular product after pressure from activists who suggested that the existing name is linked to slavery.
As the multinational manufacturer announced in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, they will be dropping the seven-decade-long name in order to “help put an end to racial injustices.”
According to the critics of the name Uncle Ben’s, white supremacists used to refer to older Black slaves as uncles because they didn’t want to call them misters, making the name along with the Black man in the logo evoke servitude.
“We listened to our associates and our customers and the time is right to make meaningful changes across society,” Mars global president Fiona Dawson suggested earlier this month as the company announced it would undergo major rebranding.
“When you are making these changes, you are not going to please everyone. But it’s about doing the right thing, not the easy thing.”
Now, the company has confirmed that the name Uncle Ben’s is being retired as they announced the new name – Ben’s Original.
As Dawson confirmed, the company is still deciding on the new logo that will accompany Ben’s Original.
While the critics of the old name suggested the logo depicting a white-haired Black man evokes servitude, the defenders have insisted that the logo and name are not racist because they were based on historical figures.
As Mars previously explained, the name Uncle Ben refers to a Black rice-grower famous for the production of high-quality rice. Meanwhile, the face of the Black man in the product’s logo was based on a famous head waiter who worked at a Chicago hotel back in the 1940s.
The rebranding move follows shortly after Quaker Foods North America announced they would be rebranding Aunt Jemima by ditching the ‘racist’ name and image because they realize that “Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype.”
Despite the company’s decision to go through with eradicating the ‘insensitive’ parts of the brand, the family of the black woman that appeared on the packaging almost one hundred years ago expressed their wish to see her image remain.
As Texas-based Vera Harris explained, Lillian Richard, her second cousin, used to work for Quaker Oats for over two decades after landing a job in the company back in 1925.
As Harris believes, history shouldn’t be erased because her cousin “made an honest living out of it” and “was considered a hero” because of her role in a prominent company.
“A lot of people want it removed. We want the world to know that our cousin Lillian was one of the Aunt Jemima’s and she made an honest living,” Harris said in an interview with KLTV.
“We would ask that you reconsider just wiping all that away. There wasn’t a lot of jobs, especially for black women back in that time. She was discovered by Quaker Oats to be their brand person.”
As Harris went on to say, her cousin was able to tour around Texas due to her role as Quaker Oats’ ambassador.
“She was considered a hero in Hawkins, and we are proud of that. We do not want that history erased,” she added.
Harris went on to urge the people to stop trying to get rid of everything, good or bad, because it is all a part of our history.
“Removing that wipes away a part of me. A part of each of us. We are proud of our cousin,” she concluded, speaking of the matter about rebranding Aunt Jemima.
Replaced!