PepsiCo is planning to change both the name and logo of its breakfast food brand Aunt Jemima—a pancake mix and syrup line that has been business for 131 years.
The company acknowledged the brand’s origins and said that despite updating the image over the years to be less offensive, it wasn’t enough.
Professor of American Studies Davarian Baldwin said that the Aunt Jamima brand has allowed certain stereotypes to survive.
“Aunt Jemima is directly part of that whole era of racial nostalgia, looking for, longing for images of black people in servitude at a time when they were fighting against that very condition,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin agreed with changing the brand, saying that the images have influence over how people treat and perceive others.
He suggested that PepsiCo and other companies present images that would have a positive effect on society.
He said: “The advertising for consumer goods, they give us images of the world we want. They’re not just selling goods, they’re selling an idea, they’re selling a narrative. And so in basic the spirit of advertising, and given the current climate, put out images to sell products based on the world that we want.”
PepsiCo announced a set of initiatives worth more than $400 million over five years to support black communities and boost black representation within its company.
