Maybe NOW we can stop fighting the Civil War?

[Scooter]

I guess we're just not as hoity toity as Americans with fewer teeth than fingers, but who all have the latest technology satellite dish on top of their trailers.

[MajGenl.Meade]

But in this case, YOU are agreeing with ME, so therefore we are both right.

[MajGenl.Meade]

https://babylonbee.com/news/cracker-jac ... zug4knkNnM

Cracker Jack Changes Name To More Politically Correct Caucasian Jack

PLANO, TX—When ballparks finally open again, those standing for the traditional seventh-inning stretch will be singing some different lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

After over 100 years of selling its caramel popcorn snack under the name Cracker Jack, Frito-Lay announced today that it would be rebranded as the less offensive "Caucasian Jack."

"We are very sorry to all the crack---er, I mean, Caucasians we have hurt over the years," said a spokesperson. "Cracker is an offensive stereotype, and we must make sure that all foods and snack products are culturally sensitive. Think about all the white people who have had to suffer in silence as tens of thousands of baseball fans sang out the hurtful lyrics 'Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks.'"

"No more. The bigotry stops today."

The move was applauded by hurt white people, though they are still criticizing Frito-Lay for how pale and pasty-white the Cracker Jack guy is on the logo.

[eddieq]

Back in the day, Pathmark stores had a store brand that was specifically labeled "No Frills". White box, black lettering. I fondly remember many of those items in my parent's pantry. The red "fruit punch" was my favorite.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Did you ever see the film Repo Man? This was a low-key running gag...



...topped off when the protagonist goes to his parents' home to ask for some money, opens a kitchen cabinet, takes down a can of generically labelled "FOOD", opens the can, and starts scarfing it down.

Is that my old buddy Col Gadhaffi in the top left? It certainly looks like him. I never saw the movie.

Back on topic, the story I had heard about Uncle Ben was that it was named after a black farmer who grew the best rice around. I understand how the 'Uncle' designation was used as a somewhat racist honorific for an older African American (like Aunt Jemima) but it would be nice if they could call it "Ben Smith' (or whatever - I don't recall his surname) rice.

[BoSoxGal]

My post in progress got eaten - makes me crazy. Anyway, we did have generic brand popularity in the USA in the late 70s early 80s during the recession, but after our economy boomed in the mid 80s and beyond, the popularity fell off dramatically.

We do have many major chains that have excellent store brand/private label brands that are significantly cheaper and nearly equivalent quality. I purchase all my OTC meds from that stock and certain staples like broths, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, some pastas, butter, cream, milk, spring and distilled water, etc. I will buy the store brands. However, certain products aren’t available in store brand or aren’t equivalent quality - and in nearly all cases I have tried first before settling on the higher price. I spend a lot of my dollars on packaged products at stores like Job Lot, where I get excellent name brands at store brand prices or even lower - it’s just an adventure because you never know what they’ll have on hand at a surplus discount store so you have to be flexible and some folks aren’t. When I find something excellent like top quality basmati rice at super low price, I stock up in a big way.

The nonsense statement that soon all the branding will be gone from the markets is just that, nonsense. Those very few racist stereotypes on packaging is all there was and now they’re gone. There are dozens of brands in the markets that are named for actual people or families that founded the brands - very few of them still retain packaging with the face of the brand but some do, like Newman’s Own, Emeril, Little Debbie, Chef Boyardee, etc. Most retain the name but no depiction of the person anymore - Duncan Hines, Smuckers, the list is very long. Name brands aren’t going to purge all the colors and imagery from their packaging because those things DO work on a great many shoppers - it is basic psychology. When faced with a white label Hannaford diced tomatoes with a small illustration of a couple of tomatoes versus the Hunt’s or Contadina packaging with lots of lovely tomatoes or a lush Tuscan landscape and a beautiful Italian woman, lots of people will pay the extra 20-50 cents for that prettier package. As long as it’s profitable, name brands will exist - it’s basic capitalism folks. You can cry and whine because the world is changing and some of the injustices are disappearing, but this overly dramatic BS about all the color and diversity going out of the market is just old man ‘get off my lawn’ cane-shaking theatrics.

[Big RR]

I agree; companies will use brand names when it promotes sales, and will drop brand names when it no longer promotes sales. The decisions to drop Aunt Jemima an Uncle Ben was not mandated by any law, but occurred because it affected sales negatively. They will be replaced by other, less offensive, names. A quick look at the racist brand names of the 1920s will show you how things change--few people want to smoke N**gerhead cigarettes.

[eddieq]

I agree; companies will use brand names when it promotes sales, and will drop brand names when it no longer promotes sales. The decisions to drop Aunt Jemima an Uncle Ben was not mandated by any law, but occurred because it affected sales negatively. They will be replaced by other, less offensive, names. A quick look at the racist brand names of the 1920s will show you how things change--few people want to smoke N**gerhead cigarettes.

Case in point - "Sambo's Restaurants"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s

We had one when I was growing up. I remember when the name changed to "No place like Sam's" and the logo was changed with the chef standing in front of the "bo" in the name. It closed and became a Denny's a couple of years later.

I see the original, sole remaining location is changing its name.

[BoSoxGal]

I should add that in my opinion Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth’s - and Log Cabin for that matter - should all be outlawed, it’s criminal to put corn syrup on a pancake or French toast or whatever. Real maple syrup is the only way to go!

[eddieq]

I should add that in my opinion Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth’s - and Log Cabin for that matter - should all be outlawed, it’s criminal to put corn syrup on a pancake or French toast or whatever. Real maple syrup is the only way to go!

Agreed. The flavor is unmatched. The fact that they don't charge ultimately that more for it is a bonus. I needed to get some "pure maple syrup" for a bacon jam recipe and found it on the top shelf at the store. I think it was under a dollar more for the pure versus the maple flavored.

[Big RR]

I never use syrup, so it doesn't bother me; but I never recall liking the imitation syrups when I was a kid.

[BoSoxGal]

I never use syrup, so it doesn't bother me; but I never recall liking the imitation syrups when I was a kid.

We used Log Cabin at my house - probably because my father was a racist, although we did have Uncle Ben’s in the cupboard - and I always HATED syrup as a kid. Then in my very late teens early 20s living in Maine I had real maple syrup for the first time and was BLOWN AWAY. That’s all I use now and I love it - I put it in tea and coffee sometimes, too. It can be expensive, but if you buy generic/store brand, it is not much more than corn syrup and SO much better - and it has phytonutrients that corn syrup doesn’t, so it’s healthier, too.

[Big RR]

BSG--I never thought of log cabin as racist--how did you make that connection? Indeed, I recall (when I was very young) that it came in log cabin shaped cans (although this might have been some sort of special, and I kept one can for a number of years. But I agree, I disliked the taste, it was too sweet for me. I do like real maple syrup much better (especially the Grade B (from Fancy, Grade A, Grade B) or Dark Amber (from light, medium, and dark amber) depending on what classification system you use), but rarely have uses for it. I usually pick up some when I ski in Vermont or upstate NY, but Costco has a pretty good brand as well. My wife and girls use it on pancakes and waffles (I just like butter), and they won't use the imitation syrup (which could sometimes be a problem if we went out for breakfast).

[BoSoxGal]

We used Log Cabin at my house - probably because my father was a racist, although we did have Uncle Ben’s in the cupboard

I thought by throwing the reference to Uncle Ben in the cupboard it would be clear that we used Log Cabin because my father wouldn’t stand for having Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth on the table.

My father was very traditional - the only food he prepared for himself was cereal, sardines, sandwiches or reheated leftovers - he’d have no clue what brand of rice my mother stocked.

[Big RR]

Well, that clears it up; I'm a little slow today, I guess.

[Bicycle Bill]

When faced with a white label Hannaford diced tomatoes with a small illustration of a couple of tomatoes versus the Hunt’s or Contadina packaging with lots of lovely tomatoes or a lush Tuscan landscape and a beautiful Italian woman, lots of people...

... will scream "cultural appropriation" or "false advertising" (since those tomatoes weren't grown in Tuscany, were they?) or some such thing.  Or did you already forget the fate of the Indian maid on the Land O'Lakes butter packages?

Let's face it, there are some people and groups of people who live their lives looking for things to be upset about.  In fact, if all these labels do go through with their stated intents to 'eliminate' the racist sterotypes of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, 'Rastus', the Cream of Wheat chef, and Mrs. Buttersworth (and I still say that Mrs. Buttersworth is intended to depict a matronly woman, an idyllic image of someone's beloved grandmother, and whose race was never a factor or issue), I predict that it won't be long before the same people who are complaining about the depictions will then be complaining about being UNDER-REPRESENTED because of the ABSENCE of black images on the labels.

-"BB"-

[Joe Guy]

How about eliminating Chef Boyardee, an Italian stereotype and offensive to all people of Italian descent? Especially if they eat the product...

[dales]

NO!

That's my go to meal when I don't feel like cooking.

[Bicycle Bill]

How about eliminating Chef Boyardee, an Italian stereotype and offensive to all people of Italian descent? Especially if they eat the product...

FACT: There actually WAS a Chef Boy-ar-dee — an Italian immigrant named Hector Boiardi, and he actually WAS a chef.

After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Boiardi opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d'Italia at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924.  The idea for Chef Boyardee came about when restaurant customers began asking Boiardi for his spaghetti sauce, which he began to distribute in milk bottles.  Four years later, in 1928, Boiardi opened a factory and moved production to Milton, Pennsylvania, where he could grow his own tomatoes and mushrooms.  He decided to name his product "Boy-Ar-Dee" to help Americans pronounce his name correctly.
(aside — I know you're just kidding, JG, but if this doesn't buttress my case about people looking for things about which to get upset... )

-"BB"-

[Bicycle Bill]

Remember the joke about the environmentalist who had to quit his job because he didn't know what to do if he saw an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

So here's a thought .... leave the Aunt Jemima image as is, just declare that she is transgender and rename her as "Aunt Jeremiah".  The snowflakes will go fucking nuts trying to split that hair.

-"BB"-