A Lesson in Corporate Wokeness: The Disaster
After Making Aunt Jemima a Pariah
Townhall,
by
Brad Slager
Original Article
Posted By: Attila DiMedici,
4/21/2023 6:48:07 AM
Though it is finally cooling, lingering effects are still seen with the cultural furor surrounding the beer brand Bud Light.In 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter upheaval seen across the country, companies were bending the knee on a regular basis. Many brands and corporations came out with statements and pledges about altering their practices and evolving their corporate structures, with "diversity" being thrown about in their mea culpa. Of course, lost in these self-congratulatory announcements was the unspoken admission they did not realize they were making: If you are promising to no longer be "racist," that means you are stating you had previously been a racist company.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
mean Gene 4/21/2023 7:57:00 AM (No. 1452557)
The Parent company tried to hide the damage, but, as the sleuthing in this article showed, pandering to lefty activists is bad for business.
21 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
anniebc 4/21/2023 8:02:43 AM (No. 1452562)
"If you are promising to no longer be "racist," that means you are stating you had previously been a racist company."
Bin-freaking-go!
I say the exactly same thing about employers and their diversity and inclusion programs. They are stating that they have had and continue to have racist and noninclusive hiring and promotion policies.Yep! They never shut down the gig departments either. Gig is for the people who have special, protected jobs in the diversity and inclusion department. Similar to HR. Ya'll know what I mean.
19 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
cor-vet 4/21/2023 8:11:51 AM (No. 1452572)
I guess the markets where I live were overstocked, because you can still find some Aunt Jemima and Land o Lakes in their original packaging. Buy some and put it away, in a few years it will be an item to find on a scavenger hunt.
14 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Encore 4/21/2023 8:17:33 AM (No. 1452579)
It’s all pretty stupid really. I see Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben as badges of honor. There’s nothing racist about them. But, thanks to ‘wrong think’, they’re gone, probably forever. Seems to me they got the exact opposite of what they wanted…recognition.
20 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 4/21/2023 8:24:30 AM (No. 1452594)
PeosiCo is pursuing the greater good and "sustainable" corporate values. Their board members must feel really good about themselves.
14 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 4/21/2023 8:34:19 AM (No. 1452603)
PepsiCo. Where are my glasses!?
5 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
udanja99 4/21/2023 8:37:18 AM (No. 1452606)
#4, add in teams like the Washington Redskins (now the Commanders). You don’t name your team after someone you don’t respect and revere. My daughter lives in the DC area and is a huge fan of the team, but she still calls them the Redskins and still wears her Redskins gear to their games. And she’s not alone.
25 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Jebediah 4/21/2023 9:12:24 AM (No. 1452634)
I was a loyal Aunt Jemima pancake MIX user and it took me time to figure out that the Pearl Mining Company mix is the same, and I don't feel the brand loyalty anymore Worst of all is my Land O Lakes butter, which I always bought---an Indian maiden now excised from the picture on the box? WHY?? What morons!
19 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
seamusm 4/21/2023 9:28:43 AM (No. 1452650)
What caught my eye here was the reminder that most people shop by 'eye'. Once they've established a brand they are happy with, they find that item by scanning the shelves until they see the packaging they are familiar with and want. By altering that packaging for ANY reason, they invite people to start looking for a new brand again. Add the anger over these Uncle Ben/Aunt Jemima changes and sales catastrophe should have been predicted. Hello! New Coke.
15 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Bluefindad 4/21/2023 9:44:12 AM (No. 1452666)
Wokesters are not cheap, out-of-the-box pancake eaters. Most prefer organic. non-GMO products and pure organic maple syrup. They didn't buy Aunt Jemima before and they won't buy Pearl Mining Company now. When they complained about Aunt Jemima, they were telling the rabble what they should buy and eat.
11 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
FJB 4/21/2023 10:14:21 AM (No. 1452684)
Aunt Jem. Uncle Joe...Gotta be other black logos lefties can ditch before starting in with those weirdo sex freaks.
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
mc squared 4/21/2023 10:20:50 AM (No. 1452695)
The altered packaging looks like the faux-products sold in the dollar stores. A plague.
7 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
G-Tom 4/21/2023 10:40:05 AM (No. 1452712)
BLEEP DIVERSITOMY!!!!
5 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Heraclitus 4/21/2023 10:51:36 AM (No. 1452721)
Interesting that when Dem/Lefties are in policy-making dominance, common sense, reason, intelligence dissipate. For example, Aunt Jemima "syrup" was greatly enjoyed by consumers, as was Uncle Ben's Rice and Land o' Lakes Butter! Were people buying these foods because they presented a poor image of Black and Native Americans? That's dumb.
We on the rational end of the spectrum have not figured out yet how to make our greater numbers impact the culture. And the opportunities to do it are slipping away fast.
6 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
AltaD 4/21/2023 10:54:51 AM (No. 1452724)
Until reading this article, I had no idea that Pearl Mining Company was Aunt Jemima. I had assumed Pearl was the store brand and I imagine I'm not the only one who made this mistake. So I wonder how much of the decline in sales is due to customers boycotting the company's wokeness and how much is due to customers simply not recognizing a product that's been around for generations.
6 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
or gate 4/21/2023 3:01:28 PM (No. 1452853)
Some people don't pay for the things they get.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Hermoine 4/21/2023 4:01:24 PM (No. 1452884)
This is what happens when you "disappear" a brand from the market.
2 people like this.
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It turns out that by getting rid of the "Aunt Jemima" brand, Pepsico lost a huge amount of sales AND market share. Who'd a thunk it?