Advertising
Age reported Cream of Wheat’s Rastus is the latest culturally clueless character being nixed in an act
of revisionist brand history. Plus, parent company B&G Foods has pledged to
provide reparations scholarships to aspiring Black and Latinx chefs. Hey,
somebody should check if any descendants of Frank
White are available and eligible.
Cream Of Wheat Plans To Remove The
Black Chef From Its Packaging
By Jessica Wohl
B&G Foods will remove the image
of a Black chef from all Cream of Wheat packaging and is starting to support
aspiring minority chefs through scholarships as the company responds to calls
for brands to confront old marketing that is seen as insensitive.
“For years, the image of an
African-American chef appeared on our Cream of Wheat packaging,” stated B&G
Foods, which has owned the brand since 2007. “While research indicates the
image may be based upon an actual Chicago chef named Frank White, it reminds
some consumers of earlier depictions they find offensive.”
B&G Foods’ announcement about
the Cream of Wheat packaging update comes a day after Mars Food announced its
Uncle Ben’s brand would be renamed Ben’s Original, and would drop the image of a Black man
from its packaging. Other brands that continue to review their imagery and
branding include Aunt Jemima, which In June announced plans to retire its brand
name and image, and Mrs. Butterworth’s.
Cream of Wheat was introduced in
1893 and has long been marketed using a Black chef character, which is believed
to be based on Frank White. In the early 1900s, Cream of Wheat ads showed
the chef to be named Rastus, a name that sometimes implies a simple Black man
and that today comes across as racially offensive. That name has not been used
by the brand more recently, but the image of the chef on the packaging is
interpreted by some as being a servant.
“It seems like their approach is a
very thoughtful and understanding one,” says Ned Brown, chief creative officer
at ad agency Bader Rutter. “The character is not embedded into the name, so
they can recalibrate and change their brand without pulling apart all of the
cards that built the house.”
B&G Foods also announced that it
has started to develop relationships “with several of the leading culinary
schools to help support and aid in the development of African American and
Latinx candidates through various scholarship and other initiatives.”
The company has not said how soon
the image will be removed, but it can take months for new products to appear in
stores. The Cream of Wheat logo without the man’s image appears
on B&G’s Facebook page.
As of Thursday, Cream of Wheat continued to show the image in social media
profiles where it is less active than Facebook. The character is included in
its Instagram profile, where
Cream of Wheat has not posted since 2018, and in its Twitter profile, where
it has responded to posts but has not done one of its own since 2017.
