Uncle Ben's has a new name: Ben's Original
Source: CNN
(CNN Business)Mars will change the name of its Uncle Ben's rice products to Ben's Original and drop the logo depicting a Chicago head waiter as part of the company's previously announced plans to create a more inclusive brand.
The revamped Ben's products, which feature the same blue font and orange packaging, will hit shelves in 2021.
The transition from Uncle Ben's to Ben's Original comes amid a broader movement about racial equality and heightened criticism of brands with origins rooted in racial stereotypes. In June, the food companies that make Uncle Ben's, Aunt Jemima, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth's said they would retire or rebrand their products.
Mars' rice brand was named in the 1940s for "Uncle Ben," a possibly fictitious Black rice farmer from Texas supposedly renowned for his high-quality crop. It featured the face of Frank Brown, head waiter at an exclusive Chicago restaurant who posed for the Uncle Ben's portrait, according to an archived page from Uncle Ben's website. The company said it didn't know if there was an actual Uncle Ben.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/business/uncle-bens-rice-rebrand-bens-original/index.html
napi21
(45,806 posts)Ben" on a box of rice?
marybourg
(12,637 posts)in lieu of the more respectful address of Mister (last name) that would be used for a white man.
LuvNewcastle
(16,858 posts)part is the word "uncle." Back in the old days, some white people would refer to a beloved older subservient black man as an uncle. So calling a black man uncle or a black woman aunt, as in Aunt Jemima, was a patronizing way of showing affection that offended a lot of black people.
While I understand why they had to change the name of the rice, I don't know why they had to get rid of the man on the logo. Maybe they could keep him and just call it Ben's or Ben's Recipe. And if they didn't want him to be a waiter, they could just have the man dressed in a regular suit. I'm sure they had people advising them on what to do and they had reasons for it, though.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)Except he'd want Sammy Alito in the picture with him.
marybourg
(12,637 posts)The plain, parboiled rice I buy is now called Uncle Bens Original to differentiate it from the fancier, newer lines of sauced, or spiced product. So now is it going to be Bens Original Original? Good thing I have a 10 lb. bag in the freezer.
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)marybourg
(12,637 posts)now referred to as original to differentiate it from the fancy prepared styles they also now sell?
Polybius
(15,492 posts)There's no need to change all of these brand names that have been around for decades.
Cirque du So-What
(25,988 posts)I dont recall a poll of black people to determine what percentage find it offensive. The uncle appellation was used disrespectfully in the past (think Uncle Tom), and to my way of thinking, it shouldnt matter whether the majority, a plurality, a minority, or even ONE finds it offensive. Its a relic from repressive times that needs to go.
Polybius
(15,492 posts)They do this to say "See, we're not racist!" I'm sure a very small percentage of whites that are Gen Z might not understand and get offended, but because of that I have to lose my nostalgia? 2020 lost Aunt Jemima, the Native American on Land Of Lakes, Eskimo Pie's, and now this. I'm tired of losing things I grew up with.
moose65
(3,168 posts)I'm sure there are plenty of places online where you could order a poster of the Land O Lakes girl, Aunt Jemima, and Uncle Ben. Are those things really that important to you?
Somehow I look at this differently I guess. I remember brands from my childhood that are no longer around, but I didn't lose them as long as I remember them. Businesses make branding decisions all the time.
How do you feel about Sambo's Restaurants and ads with black kids sitting around eating huge watermelons?
Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)She was created by a Native American artist, who even included Ojibwe artistic stylings in in her design.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/29/my-ojibwe-father-drew-land-olakes-maiden-she-was-never-stereotype/
I don't think a lot of this "cancel culture" is helping in the way it was intended--if it is, in fact, intended to help.
moose65
(3,168 posts)But what did a native girl have to do with butter? She didnt really look native to me, either - she looked relatively white to me.
And youre using Republican phrasing when you say cancel culture.
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)Sneederbunk
(14,308 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,532 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Trump to call on Nabisco to get rid of the word cracker, he will probably propose that they change it to "soup biscuit".
marie999
(3,334 posts)Earthshine2
(4,044 posts)We're much happier now.