UNCLE BEN'S
- + Add to Faves
- + Translate
- + Share
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
:''This article is not to be confused with Benjamin Parker, or Uncle Ben.''
'Uncle Ben’s' is a brand name for parboiled (“convertedâ€) rice and related food products. It is owned by Mars, Inc.; in the U.S., by its subsidiary Masterfoods. The brand was first used by a company called Converted Rice, Inc., which was later bought by Mars.
Uncle Ben’s rice was first marketed in 1943, and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s.[1]
Uncle Ben’s products carry an image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow-tie, perhaps meant to connote a domestic servant, in the Aunt Jemima tradition,[2] or perhaps a Chicago maitre d’hotel, named Frank Brown.[3] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice-grower in Texas known for the quality of his rice. Eventually, entrepreneur Gordon L. Harwell, who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name ''Uncle Ben’s'' for his company to expand his marketing efforts to the general public.[4] Mars has not supplied any further biographical detail about original namesake. In early 2007, Mars rebranded Uncle Ben as the still active CEO, presumably of the former Converted Rice, Inc.[5]
Use of African-Americans as company or product mascots for agricultural and other commodities was a common practice in the U.S. in the 1800s, and continues to the present day, though to a far lesser extent. Blacks commonly were associated with rice when Uncle Ben's was introduced. When white South Carolina planters were unable to make their rice crops thrive, it was “slaves from West Africa’s rice region [who] tutored planters in growing the crop.â€[6]
In years past in the American South, whites commonly referred to elderly black men as “uncleâ€, though they were not blood relations. The practice was considered patronizing and demeaning and largely has been discontinued.
In March 2007, after 61 years as a servant/maitre d’hotel/farmer, Uncle Ben was "promoted" to the boardroom. In a new advertising campaign designed to divorce itself from the stereotypical nature of its famous servant icon, company marketing announced Uncle Ben was the chairman of the board.
A visit to the company website reveals a set of impressive double doors. The plaque on the wall reads simply "Chairman". The doors open to reveal an appropriately decorated executive office overlaid with a welcome message from Uncle Ben that begins, "Hello, I'm Uncle Ben." The name plate on the desk again reads merely "Chairman," and on the back wall on prominent display hangs a portrait of iconic image. The boardroom is interactive, allowing visitors to click on various objects for additional information.
Luke Visconti, a partner at DiversityInc, a Newark, New Jersey firm specializing in workplace diversity believes the change is "an interesting idea," but that for him the image "still has a very high cringe factor.†According to Visconti, "There’s a lot of baggage associated with the image†that the corporate makeover is "glossing over."
★ Aunt Jemima
★ Betty Crocker
★ Quaker Oats
★ Rastus
1. Palmeri, Christopher. “Wake Up, Mars!†''Forbes.'' (December 13, 1999)
2. Pilgrim, David. “The Uncle Tom Caricature†''Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia''. Ferris State University. (December 2000)
3. Kendrix, Moss H. “The Advertiser’s Holy Trinity: Aunt Jemima, Rastus, and Uncle Ben†''Moss H. Kendrix, A Retrospective''. The Museum of Public Relations. (2006)
4. Mars, Incorporated. “About Uncle Ben’s†(2005, archived at the Internet Archiveon April 27, 2006)
5. Elliott, Stuart. “Uncle Ben, Board Chairman†''New York Times''. (March 30, 2007, retrieved April 16, 2007)
6. Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas, Carney, Judith A., , , Harvard University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-674-00834-0
★ Official Web site of Uncle Ben's brand
'Uncle Ben’s' is a brand name for parboiled (“convertedâ€) rice and related food products. It is owned by Mars, Inc.; in the U.S., by its subsidiary Masterfoods. The brand was first used by a company called Converted Rice, Inc., which was later bought by Mars.
Uncle Ben’s rice was first marketed in 1943, and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s.[1]
| Contents |
| Uncle Ben |
| Uncle Ben's promotion |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
Uncle Ben
Uncle Ben’s products carry an image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow-tie, perhaps meant to connote a domestic servant, in the Aunt Jemima tradition,[2] or perhaps a Chicago maitre d’hotel, named Frank Brown.[3] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice-grower in Texas known for the quality of his rice. Eventually, entrepreneur Gordon L. Harwell, who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name ''Uncle Ben’s'' for his company to expand his marketing efforts to the general public.[4] Mars has not supplied any further biographical detail about original namesake. In early 2007, Mars rebranded Uncle Ben as the still active CEO, presumably of the former Converted Rice, Inc.[5]
Use of African-Americans as company or product mascots for agricultural and other commodities was a common practice in the U.S. in the 1800s, and continues to the present day, though to a far lesser extent. Blacks commonly were associated with rice when Uncle Ben's was introduced. When white South Carolina planters were unable to make their rice crops thrive, it was “slaves from West Africa’s rice region [who] tutored planters in growing the crop.â€[6]
In years past in the American South, whites commonly referred to elderly black men as “uncleâ€, though they were not blood relations. The practice was considered patronizing and demeaning and largely has been discontinued.
Uncle Ben's promotion
In March 2007, after 61 years as a servant/maitre d’hotel/farmer, Uncle Ben was "promoted" to the boardroom. In a new advertising campaign designed to divorce itself from the stereotypical nature of its famous servant icon, company marketing announced Uncle Ben was the chairman of the board.
A visit to the company website reveals a set of impressive double doors. The plaque on the wall reads simply "Chairman". The doors open to reveal an appropriately decorated executive office overlaid with a welcome message from Uncle Ben that begins, "Hello, I'm Uncle Ben." The name plate on the desk again reads merely "Chairman," and on the back wall on prominent display hangs a portrait of iconic image. The boardroom is interactive, allowing visitors to click on various objects for additional information.
Luke Visconti, a partner at DiversityInc, a Newark, New Jersey firm specializing in workplace diversity believes the change is "an interesting idea," but that for him the image "still has a very high cringe factor.†According to Visconti, "There’s a lot of baggage associated with the image†that the corporate makeover is "glossing over."
See also
★ Aunt Jemima
★ Betty Crocker
★ Quaker Oats
★ Rastus
References
1. Palmeri, Christopher. “Wake Up, Mars!†''Forbes.'' (December 13, 1999)
2. Pilgrim, David. “The Uncle Tom Caricature†''Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia''. Ferris State University. (December 2000)
3. Kendrix, Moss H. “The Advertiser’s Holy Trinity: Aunt Jemima, Rastus, and Uncle Ben†''Moss H. Kendrix, A Retrospective''. The Museum of Public Relations. (2006)
4. Mars, Incorporated. “About Uncle Ben’s†(2005, archived at the Internet Archiveon April 27, 2006)
5. Elliott, Stuart. “Uncle Ben, Board Chairman†''New York Times''. (March 30, 2007, retrieved April 16, 2007)
6. Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas, Carney, Judith A., , , Harvard University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-674-00834-0
External links
★ Official Web site of Uncle Ben's brand
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
