Racism

[darmstadt]

Watching the TV it occurred to me, if this is no longer allowed:



then why is this:

"Uncle" was a common appellation used in the Southern United States to refer to older male Black slaves or servants.

[Brian Potter]

Yes, very interesting. Here's what I found on Wikipedia:

Uncle Ben’s products carry the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, said to have been the visage of a Chicago maître d’hôtel named Frank Brown.[11] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice grower known for the quality of his rice. Gordon L. Harwell, an entrepreneur who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name Uncle Ben’s as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public.[12] "Uncle" was a common appellation used in the Southern United States to refer to older male Black slaves or servants.

Uncle Ben's (rice) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[greenlake]

There was this too....



Although it looks like this now....

[darmstadt]

I didn't know it but Uncle Bens is owned by Mars therefore I presume that because it's an American product and company that casual racism is allowed whereas Robertsons, being British and therefore more sensitive to people's opinions was stopped?

[darmstadt]

The image of an elderly black man has appeared in ads for Uncle Ben's Rice since 1946. So, just who exactly is Ben? According to the book Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Ben was a Houston rice farmer known for his superior crops. When Texas food broker Gordon L. Harwell launched a brand of commercial rice cooked to preserve nutrients, he decided to name it Uncle Ben's Converted Rice, after the respected farmer, and use the image of an African-American maitre d' he knew to be the face of the brand.

On packaging, Uncle Ben appeared to be a menial type, as suggested by his Pullman Porter-like attire. Moreover, the title "Uncle" likely derives from the practice of whites addressing elderly African Americans as "uncle" and "aunt" during segregation because the titles "Mr." and "Mrs." were deemed unsuitable for blacks, who were regarded as inferior.

In 2007, however, Uncle Ben received a makeover of sorts. Mars, the owner of the rice brand, debuted a website in which Uncle Ben is portrayed as the chairman of the board in a posh office. This virtual facelift was a way for Mars to bring Ben, an outdated racial stereotype of the black man as sharecropper-servant, into the 21st century.

So promote a fictional character to the board makes it all okay

[darmstadt]

Mind you, I did smile a bit:

[greenlake]

How one product was renamed....

[wurzel]

...and there was Camp Coffee which went from this:



to this:

[MarillionFan]

[greenlake]

Meanwhile, in Australia, this biscuit....



....went from this....



....to this....