The Aunt Jemima breakfast brand is being scrapped amid a nationwide campaign that’s canceled everything from TV cop shows to high school names in the name of racial sensitivity.
The 130-year-old maple syrup mascot received fierce backlash following nationwide Black Lives Matter protests over the killings of George Floyd and several other black Americans.
“We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype,” Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, tells NBC News. The PepsiCo subsidiary representative added that retiring Jemima from syrup packaging was part of an effort by the company “to make progress toward racial equality.”
The logo was originally based off the song “Old Aunt Jemima” by a minstrel show performer, CNN reports. The character has since undergone several makeovers, most recently the removal of the “mammy” handkerchief from around her neck amid criticism that Jemima perpetuated Jim Crow-era stereotypes.
Still, the current iteration was torched online amid growing racial tensions across the nation.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian tweeted Tuesday, “How is Aunt Jemima not canceled??” with a link to a viral TikTok video by the singer Kirby detailing the sordid origins of the pancake pariah. The clip, entitled “How To Make A Non Racist Breakfast” racked up 2 million views on Twitter alone and was the No. 10 trending topic in the US on the social-media platform, according to Yahoo Finance.
Kroepfl has since admitted in her statement that the previous efforts to “update” the brand to be more “appropriate and respectful” were insufficient.
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