Wilburn’s group agreed that the Aunt Jemima name should be changed and the image removed, Ms. Wilburn said she criticized the idea that one of the few women of color leading a major corporation should have to apologize for her predecessors’ mistakes.Īt the end of the process, Ms. One proposal involved asking artists to remake the character’s image another called for sending Quaker Oats employees to a Southern plantation to help them understand the legacy of slavery, she said.Ī team member suggested that Indra Nooyi, who was then PepsiCo’s chief executive, release a contrite letter on the brand’s troubled history Ms. Suggestions ranged from changing the character’s name to “Aunt J” to making Aunt Jemima’s straightened hair more natural and building out her back story, Ms. The plan was to introduce changes during a tranquil period, when PepsiCo was not embroiled in any controversy. The group tossed around ideas, all the while “very aware of the broader implications, and what would happen if we got this wrong,” Ms. In her group of six people, she was the only person of color, she said. Wilburn said she joined an effort to come up with a rebranding campaign for Aunt Jemima in 2016.
Quaker Oats considered doing away with the logo in recent years, said Dominique Wilburn, who worked as an executive assistant at PepsiCo for several years. A 1954 magazine ad showed Aunt Jemima superimposed over an image of a plantation and a riverboat. In the 1930s, after Quaker Oats bought the brand, the character was played in a radio series by a white actress who had performed in blackface on Broadway. The founders of the brand hired a former slave to portray Aunt Jemima at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. In retiring the name and character, the company acknowledged that Aunt Jemima’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.” Quaker Oats, which has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001, announced its decision on Aunt Jemima days after a TikTok video describing the brand’s history was shared widely on social media. The decision to remake the pancake-mix and syrup brand, which was founded in 1889, came as widespread protests against racism have reverberated throughout the country, leading to changes in the corporate world and the toppling of statues depicting Confederate leaders. But it was not until Wednesday that Quaker Oats announced it would drop the Aunt Jemima name and change the packaging.
The company inched toward fixing the problem over the years, replacing the kerchief on the Aunt Jemima character’s head with a plaid headband in 1968, and adding pearl earrings and a lace collar in 1989. For decades, Quaker Oats knew that one of its major brands, Aunt Jemima, was built on racist imagery.
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