A package of Uncle Ben's rice on June 17, 2020 at a supermarket in the United States.
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JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES
Accused of conveying stereotypes about African Americans, the name and image of the famous rice brand Uncle Ben's will be replaced, announced the food giant Mars, this Wednesday, after several months of reflection.
In June, after several weeks of massive demonstrations denouncing police violence and racism more broadly in the United States, the group had already recognized "that the time (had) come to develop the Uncle Ben's brand, including its visual identity" .
But then he had not specified how he intended to do it.
A new name and a new logo on the shelves from 2021
Mars therefore chose to rename the brand “Ben's Original” and abandon the image of a face of an elderly African-American, which could evoke the rice plantations exploited by slaves.
"We have listened in recent weeks to thousands of consumers, our own employees and other affected parties around the world," Mars official Fiona Dawson said on Wednesday, quoted in the statement.
“We understand the inequalities associated with the name and face of the previous brand,” she added.
Packages of rice bearing the new name and logo will hit stores in 2021. The group also plans to fund programs to support black communities in Greenville, Mississippi, a southern state where “Ben's Original” rice »Has been in production for over 40 years.
Mars isn't the only company to drop images or names deemed offensive.
Pepsico has therefore decided to no longer use the Aunt Jemima brand, represented by a black woman adorning maple syrup bottles and pancake mixes on American shelves for more than 130 years.
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