Uncle Ben's rice and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup announce plans to change their logos tied to racial stereotypes
- Uncle Ben's rice brand says it will change its "brand identity" after acknowledging the company's imagery and symbolism is based in racial stereotypes.
- Mrs. Butterworth's also said it would conduct a "complete brand and packaging review."
- The two brands join others that have made or plan to make changes, including Land O'Lakes and Aunt Jemima's.
- The branding shift began as #BlackLivesMatter protests and activism spread after the police killing of George Floyd.
Uncle Ben's rice plans to make changes to its "brand identity," according to its owner Mars.
The shift comes as the brand, steeped in racial stereotypes, looks to cut ties with racist imagery and symbols. The re-examining of brand messaging was sparked by protests and activism that ignited after the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died after an officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes.
"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," Mars said in a statement.
Mrs. Butterworth's also said it would conduct a "complete brand and packaging review."
The announced changes follow a pool of companies striving to redo their logos and names after decades of using imagery and symbols rooted in racial prejudice and slavery, as first reported by CNN.
While Mars is planning to make changes and announced that, "We don't yet know what the exact changes or timing will be, but we are evaluating all possibilities," the change is not as decisive as steps taken by the Aunt Jemima brand, which committed to new packaging without the logo by the end of the year, and a new name to follow shortly after.
Uncle Ben's brand developed in the late 1940s inspired by the story of a Texas rice farmer, according to the company's website. The packaging's logo is a picture of Frank Brown, a maitre d'hotel at a restaurant in Chicago. But the notion of referring to older Black people as "aunt" and "uncle" goes back to practices of white southerners refusing to use "Mr." or "Mrs."
Other brands have already enacted changes in branding, such as Land O'Lakes, which removed the drawing of a Native American woman on its packaging earlier this year.