They’re changing the name of Uncle Ben’s.

[mummabear1967]

www.itv.com/news/2020-09-23/uncle-bens-name-dropped-from-rice-brand-after-logo-criticised-as-racial-stereotype?fbclid=IwAR0QAktv-u9bOTaruhDqMWGIcCJjAMILzpXtmRSe_iYzQE6qKBTWinyaIK8

Why on Earth are they doing that? Have people seriously complained? I don’t know why I’m acting surprised!

People in the U.K. read To Kill a Mocking Bird. ?

Some might have read it. There will be millions who haven't, including me.

My daughter had to read it at school when she was about 13 and couldn't make head or tail of it. She's an adult now, and were she to read it again, it would now probably make a lot more sense.

What else are we missing? That is the worrying thing.

Well the fact that the Washington Redskins have managed to get to 2020 with that name and iconography is pretty shocking.

I don’t think anything in the US is shocking anymore unfortunately. Remember this is the country that chose a sexist racist idiot to be president.

Baha haha my language is being censored because a brand name has changed slightly.....

There are none so easy to ‘trigger’ as actual racists.

Btw there’s a pretty shocking US list of brands with outright racist branding.
www.businessinsider.com/15-racist-brand-mascots-and-logos-2014-6

There’s even an American school football team in Texas called the “Cotton Pickers”.

It will be rebranded as "Ben's Original" so shouldn't cause too much confusion. I never thought about it before, but having clicked the link on the OP I now understand the connotations of slavery with the original brand name. It seems a shame to remove the original man's smiling face though - could they not edit the picture to remove the bow tie and change his clothing to give the man a 21st century look?

Throwing a tantrum because a brand changed its name is the very definition of easily offended snowflake.

My Dad is 73 tomorrow & during BLM he pointed out the Uncle Bens rice in Tesco & said he liked the rice but thought the brand Uncle Bens was racist.
He's no 'snowflake' just an ordinary white working class pensioner but even he is able to see what is & what is not racist...

(I did wonder why the rice is reduced. It must be because it will be rebranded. So I think it's 95p a packet in Tesco at present!)

@KitchenConfidential

Btw there’s a pretty shocking US list of brands with outright racist branding. www.businessinsider.com/15-racist-brand-mascots-and-logos-2014-6

There’s even an American school football team in Texas called the “Cotton Pickers”.

Thanks for that I’ve had a good look through.

It's probably a good thing really. it always looked odd to me as a brand.

Im now going to start a one woman campaign to get the Wendy's logo changed as it portrays us redheaded freckled girls as burger fiends!

Here is the offending wendys logo

Who says we aren’t?

The Redskins are finally changing their name. This year they are known as the Washington Football Team (imaginative) while they contemplate a permanent name. It’s horrendous that it has taken this long for the change to come about. People have been protesting that racist name for decades.

@froggygoneacourting

Throwing a tantrum because a brand changed its name is the very definition of easily offended snowflake.

Yes. A lot of people who are the first to call people 'snowflakes' and get upset about cancel culture are also the first to get offended when things like this happen and start to cancel their membership, boycott products, post Tweets and write columns in papers (if they have such a platform - which some of them often do)

@FlibbertyGiblets

People may not have complained. The parent company, MARS, has decided to retire the image of a black farmer, and to remove "Uncle" as it carries connotations of servility. Who would object to this? Seems a sensible commercial decision, even if some find it cynical.

HTH.

This

Well done OP for recognising that this is wrong. Very big of you. Wish more people would act like this.

Long over-due.

I always thought Uncle Ben was a chef. Why would a farmer be wearing a bit tie? Anyway I had no idea about the racist connotations, so it can only be a positive thing if brands are trying to move away from it.

Hi OP. I thought the same as you at first but once I educated myself on the reasons it was racist I agree with the change. Back in the day, black people were not afforded the respect to be called Mr of Mrs, so everyone was called Uncle or Aunt (like Aunt Jemima). In this way it was used to disrespect black people. It’s right that they remove those logos from the products.

This thread should stay up if only to educate those who aren't aware of historical connotations to racism, prejudice and bigotry.

I'm surprised that brand hadn't addressed this years ago like with Aunt Jemima and Robertson's jam...

How about renaming it Uncle Nige, next to Nigel Farage's gurning face. Just a thought.

@TomPinch

How about renaming it Uncle Nige, next to Nigel Farage's gurning face. Just a thought.

I think they're trying to move away from racism...

I've thought the branding was weird for years. Not at all surprised at the decision (and it's better than the previous attempt to make 'Ben' a board member whilst keeping the name). The products aren't going to change. I'm far more annoyed at companies that change their recipes (looking at you Cadburys)