Uncle Ben is supposedly based upon a southern maitre d. Aunt Jemima though, undoubtedly problematic.
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DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.world 5 months ago
This feels like one of those right wing memes that could go either way, but let’s break it down like this Uncle Ben and Aunt Jamima are both domestic servants, do you think that’s an appropriate mascot for a company? Do you think black folks want them as some of their oldest icons?
Land of lakes also has a stereotypically dressed native woman who probably wouldn’t dress like that at all even back in the day.
I get that most people couldn’t give a shit either way but when you use your brain to think about how messed up presumably white owned companies are for using slaves and genocided people as their logos or mascots is pretty fucked.
wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 5 months ago
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 5 months ago
TIL
From 1946 to 2020, Uncle Ben’s products carried the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, which is said to have been based on a Chicago maître d’hôtel named Frank Brown with the name “Ben” being a possible reference to a shrewd rice farmer from Houston. In 2020, Mars told Ad Age, “We don’t know if a real ‘Ben’ ever existed.” 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.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 5 months ago
Well, the Sun-Maid girl is clearly working a job that’s mostly done by immigrants from the south these days, so using a white woman instead of a brown one denies them representation. But using a brown woman would also be racist because it would perpetuate harmful stereotypes… hm, what to do?
Little Debbie is clearly a child. Do you want children to be exploited for marketing purposes?
At least a Quakers are historically against war and slavery, so I guess he can stay.
DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Quakers are also who gave us the “puritanical work ethic” that plagues our society as we try to adapt to a more convenient era of work.
Either way you’re just being a pendantic smart ass about this, so you’re definitely just some shithead right wing troll looking for rage bait.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 5 months ago
Alright, guess he guess to go as well, then.
feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Protestant work ethic.
Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com 5 months ago
As a European (we had slavery, made more wars than you can imagine and have probably the worst history you can’t even imagine) nice try locking people up in “black” vs “white”.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 5 months ago
Literally every culture on earth has practiced slavery at one time or another. Europeans were actually the first to abolish it.
Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com 5 months ago
Let’s stop making “racial” (there is only one human race) stereotypes then.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
so what do you want, a fucking cookie?
like you were involved with the effort and take such pride in your works?
this is such a bullshit post by someone who’s obviously racebaiting and loving every second of it. ignore the chuds people.
lewdian69@lemmy.world 5 months ago
You are in a shitposting community friend.
starman2112@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
I’m not making a statement about the post, but “it’s just shit posting” is a reeeeaaal good way to turn this place into a nazi bar. Not calling OP a nazi, just saying that this argument right here is chum in the water for them
AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Mia, the Land o Lakes butter maiden, is actually rather interesting, at least the modern version they got rid of. The artist was a member of the Red Lake Chippewa and the design included traditional Ojibwe floral motifs. Yeah, it needed to go, but it wasn’t the worst by a long shot.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I just love the idea of a native american being iconfied for… butter.
like, wow, that’s so very, very native and authentic - butter.
I get it, it’s the land-o-lakes, minnesota, and they take butter fucking serious folks, they make it, they eat it, they sculpt it, so yeah, they’re REALLY into butter… but why the stolen iconography? why associate the native americans, who didn’t domesticate cows, with butter of all things?
like what the actual fuck was the line of thought?
LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 5 months ago
Interesting read about this..
The native cultural influence is pretty strongly interwoven in the fabric of Minnesota. It’s very possible the thought process was just that the locals associated that image with their state, just like the brand name.
The Anishinaabe and Dakota have had major influence on the state and that’s been rectified in recent history with the renaming of certain places back to their native name, like Bde Maks Ska.
Most of the naming in the metro(and the state name) comes from the Dakota peoples. The Anishinaabe were located more in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin so you’ll see the influence there. For example the town of Biwabik in the iron range which is the Anishinaabe word for iron.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
so is cultural appropriation of iconography that doesn’t belong to white people. and to have the person ‘serving’ up the butter, kneeling?
think they would have done that with a white woman?
What’s the Anishinaabe word for racism?
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
The Anishinaabe and Dakota were the lost butter tribes?
No? No, no they weren’t. Make it make sense lol
CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Your thoughts are interesting, but I always presumed it was just a simple tribute of sorts. Like you said, Land-O-Lakes, beautiful, natural scenery of America…accompanied by a beautiful Native American woman.
Now take the product itself, like you said, make it make sense. Ehh. Maybe you just can’t. They wanted a mascot & instead of a smiling cow or potato, they chose a woman. Sex sells!
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
cultural appropriation sells. it’s not just any woman kneeling serving up the dairy products, nah… keep telling yourself it didn’t mean anything, maybe one day you’ll believe yourself, but make no mistake, they wouldn’t have put a white woman kneeling there.
so figure it out.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 months ago
cultural appropriation sells. It’s not just any sexy lady. recognize it for what it actually was and everyone moves on.