17. Aunt Jemima’s product line expanded in the 1960s
Aunt Jemima, which built its brand on pancake mix, expanded into other products as part of Quaker Oats, several of them competing with Quaker’s own brands. Corn bread mixes, corn meal both white and yellow, and grits entered their product lines over the years. In 1966, they introduced pancake syrup, through a marketing campaign which included the slogan, “Aunt Jemima, what took you so long?” It became a catchphrase in America in the late sixties and early seventies. Quaker licensed the brand name and logo to Aurora Foods in 1996. Aurora later became part of Pinnacle Foods. Through them, the Aunt Jemima logo appeared on frozen waffles and other quickly prepared foods.
In 1989, yet another change occurred to the logo, when Aunt Jemima’s hairband vanished and her lightly graying hair became plain to see. The change was made in accordance with the brand’s 100th anniversary, the sixth major alteration of the iconic image. She also received a white collar, and earrings evidently of pearl. By then stereotypical dialogue had disappeared from print ads, and the character itself no longer appeared in television advertising, other than the image on the box. In the early 1990s, Quaker’s advertisers decided it was time to return a black spokeswoman to their television campaign. When they did, it provoked considerable controversy, and reinitiated public debate over the racism inherent in the Aunt Jemima image.
