Uncle Benz has a new name: Benz Original

Mars changes the name of its Uncle Ben’s rice products to Benz Original and releases a logo depicting the Chicago head waiter as part of the company. Previously announced plans To create a more inclusive brand.

Revamped Ben’s products that have the same blue font and orange packaging will hit the shelves in 2021.

The transition from Uncle Benz to the original Benz has led to a widespread movement about racial equality and increased criticism of brands with roots rooted in ethnic stereotypes. In June, food companies Make Uncle Benz, Aunt Jemima, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth They said they would retire or rebrand their products.

The rice brand of Mars was “Uncle Ben,” in the 1940s Probably Fiction Black rice farmer from Texas Famous for high-quality crop. It features the face of Frank Brown, the head waiter at an exclusive Chicago restaurant who posed for a picture of Uncle Ben. According to the archived page From Uncle Ben’s website. The company said it did not know if the original Uncle Ben was there.

“For some, it’s clear words of slavery, and it’s not the brand we want to represent,” Fiona Dawson, global president of Mars Food, told CNN Business.

Mars decided to rebrand the products after hearing from customers and employees who requested the change.

“There is no place in this world for anything that represents social injustice,” she said.

The privately owned food and pet products company will also partner with the National Urban League and donate US $ 2 million to the Scholarship Fund for black amateur black chefs. The organization will donate another $ 2.5 million to educational programs and food access efforts in the Greenville community in Mississippi, where its products have been manufactured for four decades.