Uncle Ben’s to change logos, following Aunt Jemima decision

Quaker Oats To Change Name, Remove Image Of Aunt Jemima Brand, As Other Brands Consider Changing Too FILE PHOTO: Boxes of Uncle Ben's rice are displayed on a shelf at a Safeway store on June 17, 2020 in San Anselmo, California. Mars, the maker of Uncle Ben's rice is considering a change in the rice brand. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Uncle Ben’s is going to get a new look.

Mars, owner of the rice company, said it is changing the company’s “brand identity,” CNN reported.

But it did not specify how the brand will change.

The company posted a statement to its website Wednesday, reading in part, “now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do.”

The name Uncle Ben’s, according to the company, started in the 1940s when one of the founders of the original company, Converted Brand Rice, was talking about the products over dinner. The name of a black farmer from Texas, Uncle Ben, who was known for his rice, was used in comparison to the Converted brand, Adweek reported. But the face of the rice product is that of Frank Brown, a head waiter and chef at an “exclusive Chicago restaurant” who posed for the portrait. The name was changed from Converted Brand Rice to Uncle Ben’s Converted Brand Rice in 1947.

The announcement came after Quaker Oats and its parent company, PepsiCo, said the Aunt Jemima brand and logo will be retired to help “make progress forward racial equality.”

Uncle Ben’s external communications manager, Sara Schulte, said the company was starting to rethink changing the brand before Aunt Jemima’s announcement, Adweek reported.

Conagra, which makes Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup, said it would review its packaging and branding, CNN reported. Conagra said it “can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values.”