Following news that the Quaker Oats Company will be changing the name and packaging of its Aunt Jemima products because of its stereotypical imaging, Mars, Incorporated, which is behind the Uncle Ben’s rice brand will follow suit by “evolving” its brand identity, according to a press release on the company’s corporate website.
“As we listen to the voices of consumers, especially in the Black community, and to the voices of our Associates worldwide, we recognize that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do,” the company wrote in the release.
Advertising industry publication Adweek reported that Sara Schulte, external communications manager for Mars Food North America said that the company had already been looking at a brand change and had “begun that work even before news of Aunt Jemima.”
“As we listen to the voices of consumers, especially in the Black community, and to the voices of our associates worldwide, we recognize that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do,” she said.
Kevin D. Thomas, professor of multicultural branding in the Race, Ethnic and Indigenous Studies Program at Marquette University told The New York Times that he is looking forward to brand changes like Uncle Ben’s and Aunt Jemima’s leading to significant change in marketing overall.
