Parent company PepsiCo unveiled the new Aunt Jemima brand name and logo after discontinuing Aunt Jemima’s iconic smiling face on breakfast products last year.
Pearl Milling Company, which created the Aunt Jemima brand, is now the name on the pancake and syrup packaging, the parent company PepsiCo announced on Tuesday.
Last year, the Quaker® Company, a division of PepsiCo Foods North America, announced it would retire the famous Black character who graced Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup packaging for over a century.
According to Quaker®, the logo and name were changed because they drew inspiration from the song “Old Aunt Jemima” from a minstrel show in which performers wore blackface.
“We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype. While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough,” said Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America.
“We are starting a new day with Pearl Milling Company,” a PepsiCo spokesperson told CNN. “A new day rooted in the brand’s historic beginnings and its mission to create moments that matter at the breakfast table.”
The new Aunt Jemima syrup bottles and pancake mix packages will debut in stores in June, the company said.
The Mars company dropped the name of Uncle Ben’s rice brand shortly after the Quaker® announcement last year in an effort to “make meaningful changes across society.”
