15942: Staying For Breakfast With Mrs. Butterworth’s.

 

Okay, it’s already been established that the Mrs. Butterworth’s brand is not racist. But the old lady does get around—cavorting with Colonel Sanders and now Fred Flintstone. Aunt Jemima was much more dignified in her personal affairs.

15470: Old Help Wanted At KFC.

 

McCann in Costa Rica uses Colonel Sanders to fight ageism. Maybe next he’ll hype Viagra with his girlfriend, Mrs. Butterworth…

 

15315: BHM 2021—Aunt Jemima Adieu.

Per the PepsiCo pronouncement, Aunt Jemima is being erased—during Black History Month. Meanwhile, the jury is still out on Mrs. Butterworth’s.

 

15163: Brand Birthers Baselessly Bashing Mrs. Butterworth’s Bottom, Er, Bottle…?

As brands continue scrambling to erase “controversial” characters from packages and promotions, it appears at least one cuddly critter is causing lots of head-scratching: Mrs. Butterworth. After all, Mrs. Butterworth’s background has never been officially confirmed. Even the manufacturer—Conagra Brands—insists the bottle design and persona are “intended to evoke the images of a loving grandmother,” seemingly void of race or ethnicity.

 

The Columbia Daily Tribune once reported, “Thelma ‘Butterfly’ McQueen—best known for playing the young mammy ‘Prissy’ in ‘Gone with the Wind’—was the black actress who modeled for the original Mrs. Butterworth syrup bottle.” Yet MultiCultClassics could find no other sources to fully corroborate the alleged factoid.

 

There appears to be no historical evidence showing Mrs. Butterworth in culturally clueless campaigns, clearly contrasting Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Rastus. Could Mrs. Butterworth be the pancake syrup equivalent of a wigger—a Caucasian grandma biting Aunt Jemima’s style? Is she as anti-racist as her dancing partner—KFC’s Colonel Sanders—who has also apparently been falsely accused of racism?

 

Conagra Brands reviewing Mrs. Butterworth’s brand after Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s announcements

 

By Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY

 

Add another venerable brand to the list of companies under review.

 

After decisions by Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s to overhaul their imaging in the wake of renewed calls for racial equality, Conagra Brands announced Wednesday it has “begun a complete brand and packaging review on Mrs. Butterworth’s.”

 

Though there have been debates over Mrs. Butterworth’s race, some have associated the shape of the brand’s syrup bottles with the offensive “Mammy” racial caricature of stereotype for Black women.

 

“The Mrs. Butterworth’s brand, including its syrup packaging, is intended to evoke the images of a loving grandmother,” Conagra Brands said in a statement Wednesday. “We stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown communities and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values.”

 

Pancake syrup company Aunt Jemima, owned by Quaker Oats, said Wednesday that it would retire Aunt Jemima from packaging on its brand of syrup and pancake mixes because it’s “based on a racial stereotype.” It acknowledged that its prior work to update the character was “not enough.”

 

Mars-owned Uncle Ben’s said it plans to change its rice but said in a news release that it didn’t know “what the exact changes or timing will be, but we are evaluating all possibilities.”

 

Contributing: Dalvin Brown

14378: When Harlan Met Joy.

Okay, before anyone thinks KFC is jumping on the interracial couples bandwagon with Colonel Sanders and Mrs. Butterworth dancing and romancing for the Chicken & Waffles promotion, think again. Contrary to popular misconception, Mrs. Butterworth is a matronly White woman—not to be confused with Aunt Jemima. Hell, Mrs. Butterworth is barely true to her name, as the original formula only contained 2% of butter.

7144: Strong, Black Women… Sort Of.

Butterworth and Barbie in a MultiCultClassics Monologue….

• Mrs. Butterworth has a first name, thanks to a contest that invited consumers to create a name and story for the iconic syrup. The winning moniker, provided by two separate contestants, is Joy. However, there continues to be disagreement over whether the old woman is Black or White. Perhaps this calls for another contest.

• Not everyone loves the new Black Barbie dolls. Some folks are complaining the dolls have too much of a hip-hop flavor, while others think the long hair looks like a weave. These are probably not the folks you want to get into a debate with over the race of Mrs. Butterworth.