Uncle Ben's has a new name: Ben's Original

[brooklynite]

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of Frank Brown, head waiter at an exclusive Chicago restaurant who posed for the Uncle Ben's portrait, according to an archived page from Uncle Ben's website.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]

1. I'm not black so I'm sure I don't understand, but is it really offensive to see a picture of "Uncle

Ben" on a box of rice?

[marybourg]

5. "Uncle"( first name) is how an older black man would be addressed

in lieu of the more respectful address of “Mister” (last name) that would be used for a white man.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. I'm not black, either, but I think the offensive

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]

2. They could have gone with a pic of Clarence Thomas and called it "Uncle Tom's".

Except he'd want Sammy Alito in the picture with him.

[marybourg]

3. This is going to be interesting.

The plain, parboiled rice I buy is now called “Uncle Ben’s Original” to differentiate it from the fancier, newer lines of sauced, or spiced product. So now is it going to be “Ben’s Original Original”? Good thing I have a 10 lb. bag in the freezer.

[SharonClark]

7. No, it's going to be "Ben's Original" as the article stated.

[marybourg]

11. So what will they call the ordinary parboiled rice that's

now referred to as “original” to differentiate it from the fancy prepared styles they also now sell?

[Polybius]

4. As a black man, I find this ridiculous

There's no need to change all of these brand names that have been around for decades.

[Cirque du So-What]

9. Do you recognize the possibility that some black people may find it offensive?

I don’t 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 shouldn’t matter whether the majority, a plurality, a minority, or even ONE finds it offensive. It’s a relic from repressive times that needs to go.

[Polybius]

12. The vast majority of these name changes are made by white CEO's

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]

13. You don't have to "lose" anything

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]

15. The Land O Lakes woman is a particularly idiotic example.

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]

19. I guess...

But what did a native girl have to do with butter? She didn’t really look native to me, either - she looked relatively white to me.

And you’re using Republican phrasing when you say “cancel culture.”

[SharonClark]

6. That's an easy fix.

[Sneederbunk]

10. Cream of Wheat, you are next.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I was thinking the same.

[customerserviceguy]

16. I'm waiting for

Trump to call on Nabisco to get rid of the word cracker, he will probably propose that they change it to "soup biscuit".

[marie999]

17. I find, in the South, is what a child of any color calls a man who is a friend of their parents.

[Earthshine2]

18. The wife and I solved this problem by eating quinoa instead of rice.

We're much happier now.