19. Another woman appeared as the spokesperson for Aunt Jemima in 1994
In 1994, a new advertising campaign for Aunt Jemima products began, and it was immediately met with criticism and condemnation by several civil rights advocates and groups. Gladys Knight, famed as a singer since the 1960s, appeared as the new spokesperson in commercials. Knight’s singing career had brought her the sobriquet “Empress of Soul” and she had an impressive resume in films and television at the time. Yet the new advertising campaign brought an immediate backlash. Some of it focused on the brand itself and its insensitivity. Some of it focused on Knight personally. The advertising campaign was intended to recover much of the Black demographic which had been lost following numerous boycotts of the brand.
Knight appeared in one commercial with her real-life grandchildren, all enjoying breakfast together. It used the slogan, “Now You’re Cookin’!” as its catchphrase. As criticism of the commercials increased, Knight took to talk shows and interviews to defend her appearance supporting the brand. “For me, it’s what’s in the box, not what’s on the box”, she told Tom Snyder in one interview. Knight also opined, “they have excellent products” in the same interview. An exasperated Snyder commented, “What are they supposed to do, put Kathie Lee on the box?”, a reference to then popular daytime talk show hostess Kathie Lee Gifford. The advertising campaign featuring Gladys Knight did not achieve its intended goals, and sales of Aunt Jemima products among Black Americans continued to fall.
